A Light Unto The Nations

[surada]

Our Māori author give a perspective that compares her people's return to their homeland, with that of the Jewish people in Israel.


9. “If an ethnic group like the Arabs—who colonized Israel in the sixth century and imposed their language and religion on the conquered peoples—can claim indigeneity based on long-standing presence, then so can other colonizing groups. The rights and status of all indigenous peoples would be threatened by such an approach. In New Zealand, a few pākehā (New Zealanders of European descent) have sought to claim indigeneity. This effectively undermines any indigenous rights Māori might have, such as those articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

…according to Article 26 of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.” Preventing an indigenous people group from building in their indigenous homeland is a breach of indigenous rights.”
A Light for the Indigenous Nations

Arabs have been in Palestine since long before Islam. See Akkadian Empire.

 

[rylah]

Arabs have been in Palestine since long before Islam. See Akkadian Empire.

Revisionist lies of Arab imperialism.

Neither the Akkadians heard of any "Arabs",
who are in fact the latest arrivals in Middle East history...

 

[surada]

Revisionist lies of Arab imperialism.

Neither the Akkadians heard of any "Arabs",
who are in fact the latest arrivals in Middle East history...

Akkad was the seat of the Akkadian Empire (2334-2218 BCE), the first multi-national political entity in the world, founded by Sargon the Great (r. 2334-2279 BCE) who unified Mesopotamia under his rule and set the model for later Mesopotamian kings to follow or attempt to surpass.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Arabs have been in Palestine since long before Islam. See Akkadian Empire.

I read “The Oxford History of the Biblical World,” edited by Dr. Michael D. Coogan, director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and expert in Near Eastern languages and literatures. The book is excellent on Syria-Palestinian archeology.

The following will shed light on the question.


The end of the thirteenth century BCE saw major disruptions in the civilizations of the Near East, Cyprus and Greece for unclear reasons (possible major droughts). “Many populations appear to have migrated….Egypt was attacked by groups called ‘Sea Peoples.’ They were repelled from Egypt, but the Egyptians could not stop them from taking over the Canaan coast. The Philistines …were among the Sea Peoples.”

“…the Philistines did not occupy the coast of Canaan until the twelfth century BCE…”


“Not long before, another group had appeared in the land of Canaan…This group called itself Israel…The Egyptians maintained some control over parts of Canaan until just after the death of Rameses III in 1153 BCE….[including] Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, and the mysterious ‘Sea Peoples,’ of whom the Philistines are the best known. The settlement process in highland Israel began a generation or two before the Sea Peoples arrived on the coast…The displacement and migration of the tribe of Dan from the central coast to the far north is symptomatic of …this event.”


“This movement is documented by a variety of written sources in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Hebrew, by Egyptian wall reliefs and by archeology.”

“The Philistines bequeathed their own name to Philistia (and later to all of Palestine).”

“Cypriot archaeologists invoke the Achaeans or Danaoi of Homeric epic as the agents of culture change in Cyprus; in the Levant, the same change is ascribed to the Sea Peoples. Both agents participated in the event recorded by Rameses III and should be related to the same confederacy of Sea Peoples, or Mycenaean Greeks, who invaded the coastlands of (Cyprus) around 1185-1175.”


Further evidence of the origin of the Philistines can be seen in biblical texts, which indicate expert bowman, “chariot-warriors,” and “chariots of iron,” (I Samuel 31.3, Judg. 1.18-19) and pottery which show warriors armed like the Mycenaean warriors depicted on the famous “Warrior Vase” found in Mycenae. The description fits Goliatath, as in I Samuel 17.5-6.

Under King David, first quarter of the tenth century, the Philistines were driven back to their original coastal cities.



How ya' like dat, booooooyyyyyyeeeeeeee!!!

 

[rylah]

Akkad was the seat of the Akkadian Empire (2334-2218 BCE), the first multi-national political entity in the world, founded by Sargon the Great (r. 2334-2279 BCE) who unified Mesopotamia under his rule and set the model for later Mesopotamian kings to follow or attempt to surpass.

Arabs only came later to plunder it all
for mosques over the ruins of the
indigenous civilisations.

Arab imperialism = crime.

 

[rylah]

This is a war that is critical for the future of civilisation​

Rabbi Oury's plot to change Islam | Abū Isrā'īl​

Rabbi Oury Cherki, a fervent religious Zionist,
articulates his long-term goal to change Islam.

 

[surada]

I read “The Oxford History of the Biblical World,” edited by Dr. Michael D. Coogan, director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and expert in Near Eastern languages and literatures. The book is excellent on Syria-Palestinian archeology.

The following will shed light on the question.


The end of the thirteenth century BCE saw major disruptions in the civilizations of the Near East, Cyprus and Greece for unclear reasons (possible major droughts). “Many populations appear to have migrated….Egypt was attacked by groups called ‘Sea Peoples.’ They were repelled from Egypt, but the Egyptians could not stop them from taking over the Canaan coast. The Philistines …were among the Sea Peoples.”

“…the Philistines did not occupy the coast of Canaan until the twelfth century BCE…”


“Not long before, another group had appeared in the land of Canaan…This group called itself Israel…The Egyptians maintained some control over parts of Canaan until just after the death of Rameses III in 1153 BCE….[including] Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, and the mysterious ‘Sea Peoples,’ of whom the Philistines are the best known. The settlement process in highland Israel began a generation or two before the Sea Peoples arrived on the coast…The displacement and migration of the tribe of Dan from the central coast to the far north is symptomatic of …this event.”


“This movement is documented by a variety of written sources in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Hebrew, by Egyptian wall reliefs and by archeology.”

“The Philistines bequeathed their own name to Philistia (and later to all of Palestine).”

“Cypriot archaeologists invoke the Achaeans or Danaoi of Homeric epic as the agents of culture change in Cyprus; in the Levant, the same change is ascribed to the Sea Peoples. Both agents participated in the event recorded by Rameses III and should be related to the same confederacy of Sea Peoples, or Mycenaean Greeks, who invaded the coastlands of (Cyprus) around 1185-1175.”


Further evidence of the origin of the Philistines can be seen in biblical texts, which indicate expert bowman, “chariot-warriors,” and “chariots of iron,” (I Samuel 31.3, Judg. 1.18-19) and pottery which show warriors armed like the Mycenaean warriors depicted on the famous “Warrior Vase” found in Mycenae. The description fits Goliatath, as in I Samuel 17.5-6.

Under King David, first quarter of the tenth century, the Philistines were driven back to their original coastal cities.



How ya' like dat, booooooyyyyyyeeeeeeee!!!

Sounds correct. The Sea People were from the Aegean. What is your point? The Jews were just another Canaanite tribe. Exodus is just a myth.

Philistia has nothing to do with the word Palestine.

 

[MJB12741]

I read “The Oxford History of the Biblical World,” edited by Dr. Michael D. Coogan, director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and expert in Near Eastern languages and literatures. The book is excellent on Syria-Palestinian archeology.

The following will shed light on the question.


The end of the thirteenth century BCE saw major disruptions in the civilizations of the Near East, Cyprus and Greece for unclear reasons (possible major droughts). “Many populations appear to have migrated….Egypt was attacked by groups called ‘Sea Peoples.’ They were repelled from Egypt, but the Egyptians could not stop them from taking over the Canaan coast. The Philistines …were among the Sea Peoples.”

“…the Philistines did not occupy the coast of Canaan until the twelfth century BCE…”


“Not long before, another group had appeared in the land of Canaan…This group called itself Israel…The Egyptians maintained some control over parts of Canaan until just after the death of Rameses III in 1153 BCE….[including] Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, and the mysterious ‘Sea Peoples,’ of whom the Philistines are the best known. The settlement process in highland Israel began a generation or two before the Sea Peoples arrived on the coast…The displacement and migration of the tribe of Dan from the central coast to the far north is symptomatic of …this event.”


“This movement is documented by a variety of written sources in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Hebrew, by Egyptian wall reliefs and by archeology.”

“The Philistines bequeathed their own name to Philistia (and later to all of Palestine).”

“Cypriot archaeologists invoke the Achaeans or Danaoi of Homeric epic as the agents of culture change in Cyprus; in the Levant, the same change is ascribed to the Sea Peoples. Both agents participated in the event recorded by Rameses III and should be related to the same confederacy of Sea Peoples, or Mycenaean Greeks, who invaded the coastlands of (Cyprus) around 1185-1175.”


Further evidence of the origin of the Philistines can be seen in biblical texts, which indicate expert bowman, “chariot-warriors,” and “chariots of iron,” (I Samuel 31.3, Judg. 1.18-19) and pottery which show warriors armed like the Mycenaean warriors depicted on the famous “Warrior Vase” found in Mycenae. The description fits Goliatath, as in I Samuel 17.5-6.

Under King David, first quarter of the tenth century, the Philistines were driven back to their original coastal cities.



How ya' like dat, booooooyyyyyyeeeeeeee!!!

Yes. Let the truth be known to all.

 

[surada]

Yes. Let the truth be known to all.

Philistia has nothing to do with Palestine. That's just ignorant.

 

[surada]

Turns out, it is literally true!


1.The instruction manual or Western Civilization is the Bible. And it was used, specifically by America’s Founders, as the basis for our Constitution. Due to the influence of Karl Marx’s religion, you probably didn’t find that fact in government school.

2. The Bible offers the tiny nation of Israel as the model for many of our beliefs, and that is the meaning of the title above.

“Light to the nations (Hebrew: אור לגויים‎, romanized: Or la'Goyim; also "light of the nations", "light of all nations", "light for all nations") is a term originated from the prophet Isaiah which is understood by some to express the universal designation of the Israelites as mentors for spiritual and moral guidance for the entire world.” Wikipedia.




3. It is not just or Western folks. I found the universality represented in this article:

"How the Talmud Became a Best-Seller in South Korea

About an hour’s drive north of Seoul, in the Gwangju Mountains, nearly fifty South Korean children pore over a book. The text is an unlikely choice: the Talmud, the fifteen-hundred-year-old book of Jewish laws. The students are not Jewish, nor are their teachers, and they have no interest in converting. Most have never met a Jew before. But, according to the founder of their school, the students enrolled with the goal of receiving a “Jewish education” in addition to a Korean one.

...their teacher, Park Hyunjun, was explaining that Jews pray wearing two small black boxes, known as tefillin, to help them remember God’s word. He used the Hebrew words shel rosh (“on the head”) and shel yad (“on the arm”) to describe where the boxes are worn. Inside these boxes, he said, was parchment that contained verses from one of the holiest Jewish prayers, the Shema, which Jews recite daily. As the room filled with murmurings of the Shema in Korean, the dean of the school leaned over to me and said that the students recited the prayer daily, too, “with the goal of memorizing it.”
The reverend’s thesis is that the Jews have thrived for so many years because of certain educational and cultural practices, and that such benefits can be unlocked for Christians if those practices are taught to their children.

Outside, over bulgogi, Park Hyunjun laid out the goals behind his curriculum. “I would like to make our students to be people of God and to have charity just like Jewish people,”.....
How the Talmud Became a Best-Seller in South Korea




3. And now, from the South Pacific: “Despite what anti-Zionist ideologues might assume, the Jews of Israel are an inspiration for many Māori
Though I am Māori, I have for many years worked in and around Jewish issues—the memory of the Holocaust, advocacy for Zionism, and fighting antisemitism. But it is only in more recent years that I have become increasingly aware of the parallels that exist between my own claim to indigeneity and that of Jews to the land of Israel.” A Light for the Indigenous Nations


The author cites similarities between his Maori people, and the Jewish people, in claiming indigeneity in each of their lands.

The Maori as a sort of ‘Zionists.’

They dressed up as Arabs when they bombed the King David hotel.. is that what you call a Light unto the Nations?

 

[rylah]

They dressed up as Arabs when they bombed the King David hotel.. is that what you call a Light unto the Nations?

Seems you have a somewhat superficial perception of that role.

Being a light unto nations, means lack of warfare skills?

 

[toomuchtime_]

They dressed up as Arabs when they bombed the King David hotel.. is that what you call a Light unto the Nations?

Absolutely. In July 1946, the Irgun bombed the wing of the King David Hotel that housed the British colonial offices and British military command, but to avoid casualties, warned the British to evacuate before the bombs went off, but the British were too arrogant to believe they were so vulnerable and refused to heed the warning.

It broke the back of British colonial ambitions in the ME and a few months later Britain advised the UN it would be leaving Palestine in 1948.

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Historic Invitation | Open letter to the leading scholars of Islam: "We need 3 agreements"
-​

A Bridge between Faiths​

An Open Letter to Islam​

[Part 1]​

January 21, 2024
​

What does Judaism have to say about Islam?​

On the 7th of October, 2023, Hamas attacked the citizens of Israel. Over 1,200 children, women and elderly, Jews, and people of all religions were brutally murdered, hundreds were taken captive, and some were murdered in captivity. This attack was carried out by an Islamic movement acting in the name of Islam. This fact should lead us to reflect more deeply on the relationship between Judaism and Islam in the present and, more importantly, in the future. Facing this brutal attack, the Jewish nation has decided to fight to defend itself and has embarked on a mission to destroy Hamas.

Is Islam capable of progressing toward a spiritual goal that will prevent such atrocities in the future? The answer is to be sought amongst the leading Islamic religious authorities.

This question has become more salient today, mainly because the current moment in Arab history is unique. For the first time, a sovereign Jewish state arose again in a land that had been part of the Muslim world for a significant period (Dar al-Islam). This situation has engendered complex relations between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel and across the Middle East.

Little has been written over the centuries exploring the Jewish tradition’s view of Islam. Such literature does exist, both in the philosophical realm and in that of Jewish law, but for the most part it is scattered across the rabbinic literature and challenging to find concentrated in one source. As well, few rabbinic authorities have also studied Islam in-depth.

In this letter I will fill this void. I have no intention to ignore or distort the problems between Judaism and Islam. Still, I am writing to the Islamic religious leadership in the hope that it will contribute to our mutual understanding and promote more peaceful relations between the sons of Abraham: the descendants of Israel and the descendants of Ishmael.

The Status of Islam in Judaism​

The status of Islam in the Jewish philosophical and halachic (legal) literature is a topic that few take the time to study in-depth, both among Jewish and Islamic scholars.

We must address this from multiple facets: in part 1 of the letter, I will discuss the points of commonality between Judaism and Islam and the points of contention. In part 2, I will address the status of the prophet Mohammad, the potential for joint action between Islam and Judaism as strictly monotheistic religions, steps that Islam must take from the perspective of Judaism to allow for such cooperation, the future of relations between the State of Israel and the Muslim world, the relevance of the seven Noahide laws for Muslims and the potential contribution of Judaism to Islam.

Points of commonality between Islam and Judaism​

• Islam and Judaism agree with the belief in monotheism (that God is One), the negation of God’s corporeality and the rejection of idolatry. The great Jewish scholar, Maimonides wrote that the monotheism of the sons of Ishmael is a “pure monotheism, without flaw,” meaning with no pagan components. Judaism recognizes that Islam worships one God despite the differences in understanding the meaning of this oneness, and this recognition has practical implications. One of them is that while Jewish law forbids a Jew from entering a place of idol worship, it allows entry to a mosque. All rabbis accept this, myself included. We have no desire to convert Muslims to Judaism nor to kill or subjugate them.
• From Judaism’s perspective, all people are obligated to accept and fulfill the seven commandments God gave to all humanity, referred to in the Jewish tradition as “The Seven Noahide Laws.” These laws are the prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of cursing God, prohibition of murder, the prohibition of sexual deviancy, prohibition of theft, the prohibition of eating meat torn from a living animal, and the positive obligation to establish courts of justice and a penal system. Islam accepts these commandments in principle, and therefore Judaism can accept Islam as a sister religion – and indeed we are both descendants of Abraham. At the same time, Islam has not yet clearly affirmed these principles as obligatory toward non-Muslims and this equivocation has been a blemish on Islam throughout its history, expressed once again by the events of October 7th.
• God has not commanded the Jews to convert non-Jews, but rather to accept only those who desire to join the Jewish people out of their own initiative. In contrast, Islam aspires to impose its rule on the entire world. The use of violence to further the spread of faith is considered entirely illegitimate by Judaism. However, from a Jewish perspective, the original intent of Islam could be expressed by Abraham’s initial phase, in which he built a movement for ethical monotheism, gathering tens of thousands of followers before he was commanded to found a particular nation.
• God commanded the people of Israel with 613 commandments, above and beyond the seven Noahide laws. The 613 commandments were given as part of the covenant God made with the people of Israel so that they would serve as a model of a holy nation for all humanity and collective holiness. The sons of Ishmael were blessed with fertility and abundance to fulfill the mission of spreading the worship of the true God to all people as individuals. In other words, the sons of Ishmael were given the role of spreading the knowledge of the One God and His ethical commandments to a more significant number of people. In contrast, the sons of Isaac and Jacob were given the role of founding a model of collective holiness based on the covenant with God to make them a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” to serve as a model for emulation for all humanity.
• For Judaism, the appearance of a new religion that recognizes God’s oneness and the Noahide laws was a cause for grand celebration, and many expressions of affinity could be found in the initial period of Islam, despite the difficult and violent conflicts of those days.
• In light of the crisis of values in many societies in our times, cooperation between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ishmael could bring great blessing to the world and promote the belief in God’s oneness and his ethical commandments.

Points of disagreement between Judaism and Islam​

Alongside the above commonalities, there exist many significant points of dispute between Judaism and Islam. We will focus here only on the main and fundamental points and not the peripheral ones.

• The first point of contention is the claim by Islam that the Mosaic Torah has been nullified and that even the Jews are called upon to accept Islam. For Judaism, the Mosaic Torah is eternal. Even if God sends additional prophets after Moses, and even if He sends them to other nations, the Torah remains valid, as it represents God’s word and is incumbent on all Jews. Likewise, it must be stated that according to Judaism, the commandments of the Mosaic Torah are not incumbent on Muslims.
• The second point of contention is Islam’s claim that the Jews have corrupted the holy scripture and erased, as it were, the predictions of the coming of Muhammad. This claim is not made across the board but instead mainly concerning any contradiction between the Torah and the Quran. Many of the stories of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition are brought in the Quran, which Muslims accept as accurate.
• The third point of contention, most relevant today, is God’s promise that the Jewish people will return to their land and establish a state.
• Islam holds that it must spread its faith to all humanity by force if necessary. Judaism rejects the use of violence as a tool for spreading its faith.

Therefore, for Islam to be truly accepted by Judaism as a legitimate religion for all peoples, three points must be agreed upon:

• The recognition of Islam as a religion parallel to Judaism and not as a replacement and that the prophecy of Muhammad has not come to invalidate the Mosaic Torah.
• The recognition that the Torah is God’s word, which carries a message to all humanity. This requires abandoning the claim of corruption (Tahrif), so that Judaism will be acknowledged as the religion from which Islam developed.
• The recognition of the divine promise that the Jewish people will return to their historic homeland and rule in it, as it says explicitly in the Quran.

Suppose the Islamic religious leadership should desire to build a bridge between the believers in the One God. In that case, they must be willing to listen to what Judaism has to say about additional essential issues, including Muhammad’s status, Judaism’s potential contribution to the world of Islamic faith, and more. I will address these topics in part 2 of this open letter.

With wishes for peace,
Rabbi Oury Cherki,
Chairman of Brit Olam Institutions

جسر الإيمان رسالة إلى حكماء الإسلام– الجزء الأول –

ما رأي اليهودية في الإسلام؟ في السابع من أكتوبر 2023، هاجمت حركة حماس مواطني دولة إسرائيل حيثُ قُتِل بوحشية أكثر من 1400 طفل وامرأة ومسن من اليهود ومن أتباع جميع الديانات، كما تم اختطاف المئات ممن قُتل بعضهم في الأسر. تم تنفيذ الهجوم الشائن على يد منظمة إسلامية تعمل باسم الإسلام. وقد تطلبت هذه...

noahideworldcenter.org

A Bridge between FaithsAn Open Letter to Islam[Part 1]

In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Rabbi Oury Cherki explores the complex relationship between Judaism and Islam. Part 1 delves into commonalities and disagreements, emphasizing the need for mutual understanding and peace. The article challenges Islam to align with Jewish...

noahideworldcenter.org

 

[rylah]

Light in the midst of destruction | Historic Opportunity

This may seem strange from a Western point of view,
but history is silent on any serious formal discussions between
Jewish and Muslim scholars, let alone theological, and legal debates.

Islamists already try to twist it...
don't like the idea of leveraging their mistakes,
for any dignified alternatives to their degradation.

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Rabbi Cherki - This is theological REVOLUTION!​

I brought all the questions about the difficulties between Islam and Judaism to them. I was shocked! I have never heard that from Muslims! I asked them: 'Are you ready for me to publish that you say that?', they said: 'Of course!'

So I posted. 'This is really a theological revolution!'

An excerpt from Rabbi Cherki's lecture at @CafeDa'at in which he talks about the invitation he received from the United Emirates, his visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the impressions from the conversations he had with the leadership and religious people of the country, and what makes him believe that this time it is the beginning of a true Tshuva of Ishmael.

At the beginning of the full lecture, the rabbi elaborated on the Biblical character of Ishmael ben Avraham, the roots of the conflict between Yitzhak and Ishmael and how they are manifested today, a general background on Islam and its development, and the main challenges that complicate the relationship between Judaism and Islam.

** Hebrew subtitles can be auto-translated to English.

To watch the full lecture.

​

 

[rylah]

What About a Noahide International Court System?​

 

[expat500]

But still…..

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Rabbi Cherki - This is theological REVOLUTION!​

I brought all the questions about the difficulties between Islam and Judaism to them. I was shocked! I have never heard that from Muslims! I asked them: 'Are you ready for me to publish that you say that?', they said: 'Of course!'

So I posted. 'This is really a theological revolution!'

An excerpt from Rabbi Cherki's lecture at @CafeDa'at in which he talks about the invitation he received from the United Emirates, his visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the impressions from the conversations he had with the leadership and religious people of the country, and what makes him believe that this time it is the beginning of a true Tshuva of Ishmael.

At the beginning of the full lecture, the rabbi elaborated on the Biblical character of Ishmael ben Avraham, the roots of the conflict between Yitzhak and Ishmael and how they are manifested today, a general background on Islam and its development, and the main challenges that complicate the relationship between Judaism and Islam.

** Hebrew subtitles can be auto-translated to English.

To watch the full lecture.

​

 

[rylah]

Light in the midst of destruction | Historic Opportunity

This may seem strange from a Western point of view,
but history is silent on any serious formal discussions between
Jewish and Muslim scholars, let alone theological, and legal debates.

Islamists already try to twist it...
don't like the idea of leveraging their mistakes,
for any dignified alternatives to their degradation.

Brit 'Olam - World Noahide Center

Israel can find partners in the Muslim world - opinion

Instead of falling into the traps laid by agents of chaos, such as Iran and Hamas, Israel should seek allies within the Muslim world.

www.jpost.com