Rabbi and noted medical doctor Moses ben-Maimon (also known as "Maimonides" and Rambam: Born Passover Eve 1135 C.E. and died in Egypt (or Tiberias) on 20th Tevet, December 12, 1204) was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. His carefully carefully calculated list of the 613 Commandmentsis still generally accepted as authoritative. Among his other achievements is this listing of Thirteen Principles which all Jews should accept. This is a "statement of faith" that we as Messianic Jews also accept:

Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Judaism

1. I believe with perfect faith that God is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.
2. I believe with perfect faith that God is One. There is no unity that is in any way like His. He alone is our God. He was, He is, and He will ever be.
3. I believe with perfect faith that God does not have a body. Physical concepts do not apply to Him. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him at all.
4. I believe with perfect faith that God is first and last.
5. I believe with perfect faith that it is only proper to pray to God. One may not pray to anyone or anything else.
6. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true. He was the chief of all prophets, both before and after Him.
   As Messianic Jews we can fully agree with this because everything Rebbe Y'shua did and taught was based on Torah. This in no way rejects the uniqueness of Rebbe Y'shua.
8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses.
9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be changed, and that there will never be another given by G-d.
10. I believe with perfect faith that God knows all of man's deeds and thoughts. It is thus written (Psalm 33:15), "He has molded every heart together, He understands what each one does."
11. I believe with perfect faith that God rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who transgress them.
12. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Moshiach. However long it takes, I will await His coming every day.
13. I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when God wills it to happen.

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B"H

With the armies of the Islamic Ummah advancing their planned invasion of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people...

With the occupied U.S. government, the UK, France and other once free Western nations assisting in this drive to destroy Israel...

Its not surprising to find the return of the claim that antisemitism refers to prejudice against all Semitic people (i.e. opposition to the Ummah and Deen of Islam is "antisemitic"). This is another attempt to undercut and devalue the significance of Jew-Hatred and produce sympathy and support for those seeking their genocide.

This reworking of our language is based in a lie.

"Antisemitism" means anti-Jewish. Period. That is what it was coined to mean and what it always has meant.

Many words do not mean what they literally mean when broken down. For instance have you ever seen a "white person?" I haven't and I'm of them. Is a cowboy really half cow half boy? Is a hamburger a ham sandwich? No, words must be understood in their context and common usage.

The term "antisemitic," antisemite," "antisemitism" etc. was coined to refer to those who are anti-Jewish. As even Wikipedia says:

The term came into wide use in the mid to late 1800's and always signified the Jews only. Consider:

The "League of Antisemites" ("Antisemiten-Liga") was the first German organization committed specifically to combating the alleged threat to Germany and German culture posed by "the Jews" and their influence. This group advocated for the forced removal of all Jews from all German lands. Through their efforts the hateful term entered into common usage.

Antisemitism is today as it has been since the term was first coined: it is Judenhass  (Jew-hatred), the drive to make the world Judenfei (free of Jews).

Sadly, historically some of the strongest advocates of Judenhass have been the Christian Church (both Catholic and Protestant: Martin Luther's book On Jews and their Lies is a prime example). Even today when more Christians than ever are standing with Israel there are entire Christian denominations steeped Judenhass and actively supporting the terrorists who are seeking to genocide the Jewish people (many in the name of "peace!").

Muslim Arabs (also Semites) were considered strong allies of the Germans in their struggle to genocide the Jewish people. "Antisemiten" is nothing but Judenhass  (Jew-hatred) with the goal of Juden-frei (the goal of making the world Jew-free). For this reason the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a staunch Nazi supporter and leader in the Third German Reich.

Now history is repeating. Consider this video:

ALL who stand with Hamas and the other enemies of Israel today are following in the footsteps of Hitler and the Nazis. Its simply a fact.

The Nazis made seemingly reasonable claims to defend their Judenhass policies and the modern Nazis and their Muslim comrades are doing the same today. Nothing really changes. People have always hated the Jews and sought their destruction.

Consider this from Rabbi Meir Kahane: "Dear world, We're Sorry...."

Dear World,

It appears that you are hard to please. I understand that you are upset over us, here in Israel. Indeed, it appears that you are quite upset, even angry and outraged! Indeed, every few years you seem to become upset over us. Today, it is the brutal repression of the Palestinians; yesterday, it was Lebanon; before that it was the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Baghdad and the Yom Kippur War campaign.

It appears that Jews who triumph and who, therefore, live, upset you most extraordinarily. Of course, dear world, long before there was an Israel, we, the Jewish people - upset you.

We upset a German people who elected a Hitler and we upset an Austrian people who cheered his entry into Vienna and we upset a whole slew of Slavic nations - Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Hungarians, Romanians. And we go back a long, long way in the history of world upset.

We upset the Cossacks of Chmielnicki who massacred tens of thousands of us in 1648-49; we upset the Crusaders who, on their way to liberate the Holy Land, were so upset at Jews that they slaughtered untold numbers of us. We upset, for centuries, a Roman Catholic Church that did its best to define our relationship through Inquisitions. And we upset the arch-enemy of the Church, Martin Luther, who, in his call to burn the synagogues and the Jews within them, showed an admirable Christian ecumenical spirit.

It is because we became so upset over upsetting you, dear world, that we decided to leave you - in a manner of speaking - and establish a Jewish State. The reasoning was that living in close contact with you, as resident-strangers in the various countries that comprise you, we upset you, irritate you, disturb you.

What better notion, then, than to leave you and thus love you - and have you love us? And so we decided to come home - to the same homeland from which we were driven out 1,900 years earlier by a Roman world that, apparently, we also upset.

Alas, dear world, it appears that you are hard to please. Having left you and your Pogroms and Inquisitions and Crusades and Holocausts, having taken our leave of the general world to live alone in our own little state - we continue to upset you.

You are upset that we repress the poor Palestinians. You are deeply angered over the fact that we do not give up the lands of 1967, which are clearly the obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

Moscow is upset and Washington is upset.

The Arabs are upset and the gentle Egyptian moderates are upset. Well, dear world, consider the reaction of a normal Jew from Israel. In 1920, 1921 and 1929, there were no territories of 1967 to impede peace between Jews and Arabs.

Indeed, there was no Jewish State to upset anybody. Nevertheless, the same oppressed and repressed Palestinians slaughtered hundreds of Jews in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Safed and Hebron. Indeed, 67 Jews were slaughtered one day in Hebron - in 1929.

Dear World, why did the Arabs - the Palestinians - massacre 67 Jews in one day in 1929? Could it have been their anger over Israeli aggression in 1967? And why were 510 Jewish men, women and children slaughtered in Arab riots in 1936-39? Was it because of Arab upset over 1967? And when you, World, proposed a U.N. Partition Plan in 1947 that would have created a Palestinian State alongside a tiny Israel and the Arabs cried and went to war and killed 6,000 Jews - was that upset stomach caused by the aggression of 1967? And, by the way, dear world, why did we not hear your cry of upset then?

The poor Palestinians who today kill Jews with explosives and firebombs and stones are part of the same people who - when they had all the territories they now demand be given them for their state - attempted to drive the Jewish State into the sea. The same twisted faces, the same hate, the same cry of "idbah-al-yahud" - "Slaughter the Jews!" that we hear and see today, were seen and heard then. The same people, the same dream - destroy Israel. What they failed to do yesterday, they dream of today - but we should not "repress" them.

Dear World, you stood by the Holocaust and you stood by in 1948 as seven states launched a war that the Arab League proudly compared to the Mongol massacres.

You stood by in 1967 as Nasser, wildly cheered by wild mobs in every Arab capital in the world, vowed to drive the Jews into the sea. And you would stand by tomorrow if Israel were facing extinction. And since we know that the Arabs-Palestinians daily dream of that extinction, we will do everything possible to remain alive in our own land. If that bothers you, dear world, well - think of how many times in the past you bothered us.

In any event, dear world, if you are bothered by us, here is one Jew in Israel who could not care less.

The reason people are now trying to change the meaning of the term antisemitism is to negate the Jewish people and their distinctiveness. An anti-Semite is an anti-Jew and nothing else. Here is a common, historically uninformed view held by many today:

"I sort of equate antisemitism to people calling someone a racist simply because they find hip-hop "culture" (loud rap, saggy pants, profanity, spastic semi-threatening hand gestures, etc.) repugnant, when in fact race might not have anything to do with it ...

This "dummying down" of the English language is intentional! As in the book 1984, the leaders today hope that by sanitizing and weakening the language they can alter reality. And it working!

"Antisemitism" is very specific in its meaning. "Racism" is very general. A racist might also be antisemitic but not all anti-Semites are racists.

The more the language is weakened the less it can convey. Destroy Jewish distinctiveness and the Jews cease to exist as a people.

Just like during other periods of increased Jew hatred, most people today are again turning against the Jews. This is nothing new. Consider where this kind of rising antisemitism led during the 1930's and 40's:

AND History IS Repeating

Which side you will be on is your decision.

May there be Shalom,

~ John of AllFaith

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B"H

To understand what a given word means in a specifc case we must carefully consider the context in which it is used. The word Zion (t'zion) means a few different things depending on its usage.

The Hebrew word/name Zion appears at least 153 times in the Bible. The term is used as “Mount Zion,” “the daughter of Zion,” the “virgin daughter of Zion,” or simply as “Zion.”

Zion is sometimes used in Scripture to reference the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of biblical Israel (the modern Sanhedrin presides as a religious court only). This ancient court held its sessions within the Temple and according to the rabbis is referenced in passages such as:

Isaiah 2:3: “For out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem.”

This understanding accords with the teachings of Rebbe Y'shua who referred to the rabbis (the elders of Israel) sitting authoritatively in the seat of Moshe. (Matthew 23:3 etc).

Zion also refers to the Temple Mount (or Har haBáyith). This sacred hill is where the Beit HaMikdash or "House of Holy: the Temple once stood and will again reside during the Messianic Age.
What we today know as the Temple Mount is both the biblical Zion and Mount Moriah (where Avraham offered his son Isaac to Adonai). In this sense then Zion is where the Ruach or Presence of HaShem dwells:

Psalms 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the rod of Your inheritance which You have redeemed; this mount Zion in which You have dwelt.

And Zion is synonymous with the City of Jerusalem (Yerushaláyim), the city where David established his Kingdom:

II Samuel 5:7 And David took the stronghold of Zion; it is the city of David.

I Kings 8:1 And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion.

Throughout scripture “Mount Zion” is synonymous with Mount Moriah, the site of the Temple, and the Holy City it watches over:

Psalm 87:2 Adonai loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.

Psalm 137:1 There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion.
137:2 We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst.
137:3 For there our captors demanded a song from us; and our plunderers demanded gladness, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
137:4 How shall we sing Adonai's song in a foreign land?
137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.
137:6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

There is however another very significant meaning for the word Zion:

Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

So then...the Sanhedrin, the elders of Israel who sit in the seat of Moshe (Matthew 23:2) are collectively known as Zion.

The Beit HaMikdash where the Sanhedrin meet and where HaShem is worshiped is Zion.

Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, upon which the Beit HaMikdash will one day again arise to the glory of HaShem is Zion.

Yerushaláyim, the Holy City of David and home of the Temple Mount is Zion.

Eretz Israel, the Holy Land of which Yerushaláyim is the eternal capital is Zion.

And Zion is People Israel, to whom Eretz Israel and Yerushaláyim were given as eternal positions. This was signified by Avraham's offer of his dear son, the pregentior of the Jewish people, on Mount Moriah. On that sacred site the two Beit HaMikdash stood and one day the third and eternal Temple will stand. In that Holy House the Sanhedrin will again oversee the divine service of the Elect of God, People Israel.

Zion is adored by Almighty Adonai and:

Psalms 78:68, “He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.”

Psalms 87:2, “Adonai loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”

As Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson tells us:

The Hebrew word for Zion can be translated as “indication” or “marking.”

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, explains that the Jewish people are called Tzion by virtue of their study of Jewish texts and fulfillment of G-d’s commandments. This causes them to be distinguished, or marked, for their uniqueness. As it states in Jewish law, “When a physical object has a sign, a marking, should it be lost, the sign enables it to be returned to its owners.”

So too, the Jewish nation has its marking; thus they are not lost among the rest of the world, and always return to their Owner.

Zionism

Zionism is the philosophical and political conviction of the truth of the above points.

Zionism is HaTikvah: The Hope of Israel and the world.

HaTikvah

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