Judah Must Learn Torah and Settle the Land (November 4th, 2012, 19th Cheshvan 5773)
Duration ca. 29 minutes. To read article please Scroll Down!
The Task of Judah is primarily to keep, study, and develop the Law. In this Era, leading up to the End Times, they also need to liberate and settle the Land of Israel.
In Scripture the Jews are represented by the terms Jerusalem, Zion, or Judah. Judah, Reuben, and the Tribes of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) all in their own way could claim a degree of pre-eminence:
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn; but, for as much as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's (1-Chronicles 5:1 2).
Historically JUDAH was the leading tribe in the south and it was around him that portions of the other tribes gathered. In Biblical terminology JUDAH represents all of the southern entity whose descendants remained faithful to the Law.
Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints (Hosea 11:12).
Ephraim is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver (Psalms 60:9, 108:90).
The scepter [Hebrew: shevet] shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet (Genesis 49:10).
A lawgiver means understanding the law, studying the Law (Torah), and showing the Practical Application of the Law. This means learning and keeping the Torah.
This is the PRIMARY MEANING of this message.
There is a second meaning: Learning and Science. The Jews have a talent and aptitude for understanding what makes things tick. They learn the Laws of Nature and Science and then they show the world how to apply them.
Bleeding hearts in the west are often against the State of Israel. They claim the Jews are oppressing the Palestinians. This is not so but they make themselves out as if they believe it is. A lot of different peoples are indeed oppressed today by other nations all over the world. The Palestinian case however receives more attention than all of the others put together. Not only that but the Palestinian claims are on the whole unjustified or of their own doing. At all events various NGOs in the West (including Church groups in the USA) frequently call for economic sanctions against Israel.
An Embargo Ban on Israeli Goods would send the World Back Decades! No modern portable phones; no computers; no computer programs; no medicines or state-of-the-art medical techniques.
No new irrigation techniques for water-scarce third world countries. Most scientific advancement and knowledge today has Jewish input.
[Historically, the European Renaissance was triggered at least in part by the learning of Jewish religious works. Jews financed Columbus who was himself probably Jewish!]
It should be noted that Intellectual Innovation is one of the characteristics of Israelite Nations in general.
See Ephraimite Criteria.
It is not the exclusive domain of Judah though Judah has done well in it by virtue of the Torah.
In Israeli Today thousands of Jews learn Torah full time. They are only a small minority but they should be encouraged and there should be more of them. They keep the country going.
They receive a few hundred dollars a month from the Israeli Government ALL of which the Government gets back in taxes and on other ways. They have large families. Most of their budget comes from part-time work, their wives working, or from philanthropists within Israel and overseas. [On the whole the State of Israel benefits socially and economically from this activity.] This is the purpose of the Torah. In Ancient Times the Tribe of Levi would receive the first tithes. The second tithes went mainly to food that was to be eaten in Jerusalem. One -tenth of all livestock was also tithed and had to be eaten (by its owners or others) within Jerusalem. The purpose of these second tithes was to encourage every family to have at least one member permanently in Jerusalem learning Torah as well as all the other males regularly spending time in Jerusalem for the same purpose. Many of the Levites would also spend much of their time in study. Most of the Levites are today within the Jewish nation.
In the last days the righteousness of the faith of Judah will be acknowledged:
In those days ten men out of all the languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, we will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (Zechariah 8:23).
Historically, the Jews of Judah were often senselessly hated, persecuted, and despised. Isaiah had predicted this situation:
He is despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows...he was despised and we esteemed him not...he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. he opened not his mouth, as a lamb to the slaughter...the lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah ch.53).
The Jew is the servant of God and the witness to Monotheism:
Ye are my witnesses and my servant whom I hath chosen. before me there was no god formed neither shall there be after me (Isaiah 42; 10).
What Do Jews Believe?
A lot of books and articles exist about the Fundamentals of Jewish Belief. In Practise most Religious Jews are not really concerned with matters of Faith. Regular actions and Day-to-Day Obligations are what is stressed and studied.
We would say that in effect the following Principles are what Jews stand by as indispensable:
Belief in One God.
Belief in the Divine Sanction of the Torah meaning primarily the Five Books of Moses in the Bible. The other books of the Bible are also accepted but they are subservient to the first five and not studied with the same intensity.
Belief in the Oral Law (which clarifies Torah commandments) as explained by the Rabbis in each generation.
Belief in Reward and Punishment.
Belief in Resurrection of the Dead. There is also a Belief in a World to Come beyond this existence.
Belief in Divine Providence.
Belief in the Coming of the Messiah.
[Maimonides gave 13 Articles of Faith but six of these elaborate on the meaning of belief in One God and the nature of the Almighty (e.g. Omniscience). The Principles of Maimonides are encompassed by what we have written above. ]
Judah and Identifying the Ten Tribes Amongst Western Nations.
Belief in the Ten Tribes.
Jews belief in the Return of the Ten Tribes but it is not a subject that usually occupies their attention. It is mentioned in the sources and nothing much more than that.
Occasionally someone comes along and claims the Ten Tribes have been found in Afghanistan, or Burma, or China, or Japan, Or somewhere else.
We received an e-mail asking why these claims receive the attention of Jews.
Why is the present day location of the Ten Tribes amongst Western Peoples not recognized?
Why are the Blessings to Israel, that have been fulfilled in the Ten Tribes and that prove who they are, not recognized?
Is this due to Western Peoples having been anti-Jewish at times?
Or is it due to an association with Replacement Theology?
[Replacement Theology is the notion that since the Jews rejected the Christian Messiah they were replaced by the Christians as the Chosen People.]
Is Jewish Reticence to accept the Ten Tribes in the West due to Religious Differences?
We recently answered a previous question along the same lines.
Jewish Denial? Judah Will Not Believe without Brit-Am! Neither will Joseph!
Our own organization, Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations is headed by a Religious Jews and is recognizably acceptable to Jews.
We know the Lost Ten Tribes to be amongst Western Peoples due to Biblical Prophecies and the confirmation of findings from other fields.
Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations is not the first and at present not the only group that uses fulfillment of Biblical Prophecies to prove the whereabouts of the Ten Tribes.
The explanations of all other groups however have something of Replacement Theology about them whether they intend it or not.
It would seem that other groups that quote from Biblical Prophecy to indicate the Lost Ten Tribes being in the west somehow or other imply (or in some cases openly declare) that the Jews lost their opportunity. The Ten Tribes, it is implied, have picked up the pieces! This indeed does sound like a form of Replacement Theology.
One would think, according to some of them, that the Ten Tribes get all the Blessings while Judah receives Persecution and Discrimination!
The Hebrew Nations Explanation is a little different:
We explain from Prophecy and Jewish Sources that the Two Halves of Israel had different tasks to play.
Judah had to:
Keep and Develop the Law.
Settle the Land of Israel in order to Fulfill the Law, and Prepare the way for the Return of all the Tribes and the Messianic Era (Micah 4:8 Hosea 6:10).
Judah went into Exile (according to Jewish Sources) in order to take in Gerim (converts) and sparks of holiness.
[Judah in its Place of Exile was mainly amongst Christian Nations of both Israelite and non-Israelite Origin. Judah in some ways served as the soul, the life-force, of these peoples BUT that is something for another study.]
Judah has now began to return since the first part of the Final Phase leading to Ultimate Reunification has begun.
Judah and Joseph will re-unite and should already begin Drawing Closer.
The Ten Tribes, especially Joseph, were to:
Lose their Identity, receive the blessings, evolve upwards drawing the rest of humanity with them.
[See our book, "Role to Rule"]
This is what they did, more or less.
They also should protect Judah, and assist Judah in its task.
To some degree they have of late instinctively been doing this BUT not enough. In addition Many amongst Joseph have been actively campaigning in the opposite direction.
Not only that, but today the other Tribes (i.e. not those of Joseph) are taking a strong stance AGAINST the State of Israel.
The USA is the only Israelite Nation that relatively speaking has been consistent in its support for Judah. Under Obama this is liable to change if it has not done so already!
All of the above is of our understanding.
We have the sources and can make the argument.
We however need the means to do so.
Judah needs to know who the Ten Tribes are from the Hebrew Nations perspective.
So do all the others.
Judah needs not only to be aware as to who the Ten Tribes are but also to reach out them:
Yalkut Shimeoni on Shir HaShirim (Song of Solomon)
# ...These are the 'Ten Tribes'. The exiles of Judah and Benyamin [i.e. the present-day 'Jews'] are destined to go unto them and bring them back in order to merit with them the Messianic Era and life in the World-To-Come. This is as it says, 'In those days the house of Judah shall go unto the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers' (Jeremiah 3;18).
-Yalkut Shimeoni, Song of Solomon 905.
Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations has the tools and information to solve the problem for both Judah and Joseph.
We need help in promoting this message.
Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations is at present the ONLY organization able to combine Biblical, Rabbinical, and Secular Evidence in an acceptable manner and in a way that proves the point.
For an explanation as to why our explanations are needed see:
Jewish Denial. #6. Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations is the ONLY Jewish Authority on the Ten Tribes Subject at Present!
We are the authorities in this field, at present.
[In the future this may change. We hope it does. Others may appear but so far they have not done so. We are what there is.]
If for some reason or other you would prefer that others were in our position it will not help.
Brit-Am should be assisted by those who agree with its message.
We would rather not need to ask for money and support to function.
Divine Providence however has its own reasons for arranging matters as they are.
Conclusion
We have seen how the Jews of Judah have the tasks of Learning Torah (including studying science), as well as liberating and settling the Land of Israel. We have also seen how our organization Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations is best suited for spreading this message and therefore deserves to be supported.