Support Your Synagogue

classic Classic list List threaded Threaded
1 message Options
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Support Your Synagogue

fschmidt
Administrator
This post was updated on .
The purpose of the Bible is morality.  The purpose of the Bible is not attending service, not sacrifice to God, not keeping holidays, and not prayer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hate, I despise your feasts!
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies.
Even if you offer Me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amos 5:21-24

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What are all your sacrifices to Me?”
asks the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.
When you come to appear before Me,
who requires this from you—
this trampling of My courts?
Stop bringing useless offerings.
Your incense is detestable to Me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,
and the calling of solemn assemblies—
I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.
I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to Me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
When you lift up your hands in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.

“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil.
Learn to do what is good.
Seek justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 1:11-17

So why does the Bible include the temple, sacrifices, holidays, and prayer?  Because these are means to morality.  God doesn't have an ego that needs to be fed.  God doesn't need us to worship Him.  These things are in the Bible to serve as reminders to us to keep God's moral commandments.

What is the purpose of morality?  The answer is that morality makes a community of people strong.  Moses explains the purpose of God's commandments clearly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Following the commandments of the Bible produces success for a community.  This is because the commandments are designed to promote morality.  And morality builds trust within a community which strengthens the community.  Not only does morality cause success, it is also the best path to happiness.  The most meaningful life is a moral life lived in a moral community.

It is no accident that the Israelites agreed to the Ten Commandments as a community.  The Torah was given to the Israelites as a community, not as individuals.  It is up to individuals to follow the Torah, but the benefit of following the Torah goes to the community.  The individual benefits indirectly by being part of a moral community.

If the Bible is designed to benefit groups, what value does it have for an individual who isn't in a moral group?  The answer can be found in Ecclesiastes generally, but is summarized at the start:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ecclesiastes 1:2

EVERYTHING is futile in an immoral culture, including the Bible itself.  So what should one do if one lives in an immoral culture?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ecclesiastes 3:12

That's right, become a hedonist.  Throw away your Bible, it is useless to you if you plan to spend your life in an immoral culture.  What benefit is morality in an immoral culture?  Less than nothing, it is just a burden.  You will be a sucker, taken advantage of.  Following the Bible will only produce poverty and ridicule.

The Bible has no value outside of a moral community.  So if you have biblical values, you must join a community that shares these values.  And that community is a synagogue.  When you join such a community, you should make a real commitment to support it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You must not harbor hatred against your brother. Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him. Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yehovah.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 19:17-18

This is general attitude you should have to other members of your synagogue.  Your synagogue is your community.  And the purpose of the Bible to strengthen your community through morality.  So you have an obligation to act morally to other members of your synagogue and to do what you can to strengthen your synagogue.

Of course there is a practical problem, there aren't very many Biblic Jewish synagogues around.  At present, the only Biblic Jewish synagogues are Karaite synagogues.  So if you live in a country that has a Karaite synagogue, which includes Israel and America, then move near one and join.  If you don't live in one of these countries, then try to find one other person who wants to follow Biblic Judaism and join together with that person to start a synagogue.  Once there is one Biblic Jewish synagogue in a country, others should join that synagogue rather than starting their own.

What if you aren't willing to move?  In that case, following the Bible is pointless.  Throw out your Bible and become a hedonist because your life is pointless outside of a moral community.