At 10:17 29/08/2002 -0500, "Ephraim"
(pseudonym) wrote:
>Shalom Yair,
>
> Please keep me informed specifically
on the progress of
>the Hebrew version of your books.
I hope that your Hebrew books will be
>able to sufficiently concentrate on
what the Talmud and Sages have to say
>about the House of Israel and how
to identify them. I think these type of
>things will have more effect on the
Jewish audience than a lot of the
>historical and anecdotal evidence.
It seems to me that there is plenty of
>information to support the clear distinction
between the House of Israel and
>the House of Judah that seems to be
largely ignored by Judaism today. In
>other words, how do we get mainstream
Judaism to recognize that it is very
>likely that a large part of the House
of Israel today is made up of many
>from Evangelical Christianity.
>
>
>Your friend,
>
Answer:
Hebrew Versions Update and Reply:
1. Option One: We have a Hebrew version
of our work in preparation. What we
have done so far is based mainly on
a translation from
the book "Ephraim". We purchased a
rather expensive translating program
that reduces the initial work load
by about
15% to 20% and also helps psychologically
by eliminating the initial
difficulty of finding appropriate words.
Even so, I am not just translating
but also preparing the work with the
Israeli audience in mind. In many ways
it is almost
as difficult as writing the book anew.
This requires time and effort. It
would be also advisable to pay a competent
third party
to proof-read the work and offer editorial
assistance. All of this requires
some financing even at a minimum level.
Whatever we do requires funding. We
are no different in this respect from
any other person or organization. What
we do
is usually an outcome of the funding
available.
2. We are now preparing books based
on a direct commentary of scripture.
The book "Ephraim" contains some pertinent
Jewish sources justifying our
belief. We now have additional sources
of value many of which will be
entered into our current works on the
Bible.
3. Many Jews are intellectual or at
least well-informed. The historical
and archaeological information is important
to us at an
intellectual and spiritual level. Summaries
of the relevant findings should
be inserted into the Hebrew version
of our work.
4. Option Two: To complete the three
books on the Bible in English and
publish them. This will put the information
out to people who need it and
should also provide some funds to function
with. We can then take
summarized versions of these books
together with
the sources (whose original versions
are in Hebrew anyway) and combine them
with extracts from "Ephraim", "Joseph",
etc., into one book in Hebrew.
This book should also, ultimately be
rendered into English, and distributed
as widely and as cheaply as possible.
It should become the classical introductory
work in our field.
I believe that a book in Hebrew will
eventually be well accepted by the
Israeli public but it may take time.
The Jewish people have to know why this
information is important to them
and that it can help them.
This awareness is not at present as
obvious to the Jewish people as we
would like it to be. Some Jews are
afraid
that the idea can cause harm and we
must counter this fear.
We are not a large organization. Even
though I live in Jerusalem most of
our membership is in the USA.
We have some members and contacts in
Israel and QUALITATIVELY these have
proved extremely valuable.
Our impression is that in order to
overcome suspicion and increase Jewish
awareness of Brit-Am we need:
a. To show the importance of this truth
to the Jewish people and the State
of Israel. We have begun to develop
the necessary approach and are
continuing to do so. Young people and
religious Jews are often the most
open towards us.
Jews in Israel generally like Americans
and are sympathetic towards the USA
so this gives us an opening.
b. To put out intellectually acceptable
literature in Hebrew emphasizing
Jewish sources.
c. To advertise in the media and to
organize meetings, etc. This is not
necessarily very expensive to do
but it does require some funding.
You said: <<How do we get mainstream
Judaism to recognize that it is very
likely that a large part of the House
of Israel today is made up of many
from Evangelical Christianity?>>
Answer: People are drawn to certain
forms of religion due to Divine
Providence and in many cases their
own ancestry.
Bible-believing Christianity provides
a preparation for understanding
Brit-Am beliefs. It fulfills a purpose
in the Divine Plan.
Nevertheless, my personal approach,
and the approach I feel that most Jews
would appreciate, is the factor of
ancestry.
Biblical Prophecy in the light of the
sages, the fact of ancestral
brotherhood, and the fulfillment of
mutual needs are probably the strongest
points we have.