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  Where do they come up with this stuff!?

Ok so I went and put some google ad's on my blog ( sorry but the bills aren't getting paid the way they used to ) And one of the ad's (to be blocked ) was for an x-tian.  

I just don't understand where they get this stuff from. 

My comments are in red.

Dear  Ploni  ,

I  am  afraid  Ray,  as  it  seems  that  you   have  been  misled  by  the clever  devil,  to   think  that  you  will  only  be  saved  in   that  fire. Yes  it  is  indeed  true  that   Yeshki  came  to  save  sinners,  but  those sinners   must  believe  the  gospel  now  to  enable  the   Lord  to  save them ( I thought you said Yeshki was saving the sinners )!  Salvation  will  not  come   after  death  but  is  attained  now, through  faith.

You  will  not  be  cleansed  in  a  fire  after   you  have  died.  Such concept  comes  from  the   devil (there they go again calling the jews the devil) ,  simply  to  misled  you  and  those   that do  not  want  to  believe.  This  serpent,   does  not  want  to  be  thrown there  alone,   but  he  wants  to  take  you  with  him.

The  demons  are  afraid  of  being  thrown   in  that  place  to  an  extent of  begging  the   Lord,  not  send  them  back  to  hell,  when   He  was still  living  in  the  flesh (umm ... what ? ההורא יתברך שמו אינו גוף ולא ישיגוהו משיגי הגוף. The creator, bless his name, has no physical body and is not subject to physical things ( The Rambam's 13 principles of faith #3)). See Luke 8:31; It   is  indeed  your  democratic (?!) right  to  choose (bachirah)   to  go to  hell .  You  will  not  blame  anyone   but  yourself.  Please  think about  that!  You  are   not  in  good  hands  as  you  don't  believe   the whole  gospel,  but  the  serpent  has  you. (so G-d turns his back on those who don't believe in this stuff ? )

You  simply  refuse  to  read  carefully  the  book   of  Isaias Isaiah the prophet  in  chapter  66  verses   22-24  for  your  own  good.  The  devil has   twisted  your  poor  mind  for  your  own   destruction. (While your at it read the whole book of Yishayah, it gives some pretty strong rebuke about worship other gods than the One (yirbarach shemo ) )

If  G-d  would  save  sinners  through  fire  as   you  are  suggesting, John  would  not  have  told   the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadduces  to produce   fruits  in  this  life  that  befit  repentance.   He  would  simply have  told  them  to  wait   until  they  are  cleansed  in  the  lake  of fire.  God  has  not  failed  to  save,  but  it   is  people  like  yourself who  refuses  to  believe   the  true  gospel  of  Yeshki  Chuckles   and  be saved.  My  God  will  not  force  anyone  to   come  to  Him.  He  always ask  humbly  but   many  people  simply  ignores  His  pleas!

(So then what, he likes to bbq sinners for fun!  What is the purpose ? ) 

Lastly,  if  you  do  not  repent,  your  punishment   will  be  much greater  than  that  of  any   other  ordinary  sinner  only  because  your are   busy  contaminating  the  minds  of  the  people   who  Chuckles  died for  in  the  cross (ok this is where you lose me, if he died to clear off all your sins why can't he clean off the 'sin' of not believing ?).  You   must  understand  that  they  will  die  for their   sins  but  the  blood  will  be  sought  by   God  from  you.  Read Ezekiel 3: 17-21. ( Again, great book to read about why not to worship other gods, be sure to get a good commentary on it too )

There  is  absolutely  nothing  that  you  will  help   me  with!  Your  type of  the  gospel  is  from   Satan  and  his  demons.  He  is  your  father and  the  father  of  all  sinners  that  refuses   to  repent!  BEWARE,  you are  on  your  way  to   Hell  and  the  everlasting  Lake  of  Fire.  It does  not  matter  whether  you  believe  it  or   not  (didn't you say that if he believed he would be 'saved'?!),  it  will  surely take  place  only  because   G-d  has  said  so. (When did he say this ? )

The  buck  stops  here,  nevertheless,  I  will  surely   pray  for  you that  your  poor  soul  should   be  saved  from  the  coming  destruction.

Thanks  for  your  ill-informed  gospel! ( and thanks for yours )

Yours  in  Stuff,

Ploni

[Ploni replies]

Dear Ploni:

I am sure that you are completely convinced that what I am saying in my material is wrong, evil, and of the devil. You are primarily basing all of that on a few mistranslation and the false teachings of Yeshkidom.

Your knowledge of the word "hell" is quite lacking. Hell has NOTHING to do with fire. "Hell fire" mentioned in the KJV is from the Greek word "Gehenna."  It is a valley south of Jerusalem (Where did you get that from ). It used to be the city garbage dump. As such it was on fire. As garbage and organic materials were constantly thrown into this fire, the worms there did not die out, but kept on multiplying until there was nothing left to eat. The valley is STILL in Jerusalem, Dan, but the fire is OUT and there are no WORMS there.

The word "hell" in the KJV is translated from the Greek word "Hades" which means the UNSEEN or etymologically, UN=PERCEIVE or IMPERCEPTIBLE.  There can NOT be feelings, torture, pain, etc., in a place that by its very name means to have NO PERCEPTION OF ANYTHING!! People must first be resurrected from Hades before they will have perception again. ( Sorry but the word "Hades" was never written in the original bible, and it was written in hebrew not greek, so your correcting his mistranslations based your mistranslations )

Are you interested enough in the Word of G-d to study this word and see if I am correct?

In Luke 8 (I thought you said the Word of G-d) , the demons did not fear going to "hell." Read it, Dan, they feared being put back into the "deep" as it is in KJV or more properly the "submerged chaos." It is the SAME word translated "bottomless pit" in Rev. where Satan is held for a thousand years, and THEN he is put into the "lake of fire" (Ver. 10). (He is held in the pit because God has one more dirty work for Satan to perform before he begins his purification in the lake of fire (not the pit).

There is NO WORD in either the Hebrew or Greek scriptures that means "eternal" or "everlasting" or "for ever and ever."  Since there is NO SUCH WORD IN THE BIBLE, all such translations are WRONG and misleading.  See the first ten pages of my letter to John Hagee for absolute proof of this. If you don't agree, prove me wrong SCRIPTURALLY!

Um what ?

Try these : תמיד, לנצח, לעולם, לעולם ועד, לעד, try to look them up ... I'm sure you can find more if you tried 

Ploni, on a personal note. I know you feel very smug and comfortable in call me OF THE DEVIL and that the DEVIL HAS ME and that I AM OF MY FATHER THE DEVIL, etc., etc. However, a word of warning:  The one time that the Pharisees accused Yeshki of doing something of the devil or the prince of demons, He warned them that if something really is of THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD and one says that that is really THE SPIRIT OF THE DEVIL, then they have committed a sin that will NOT be pardoned in this life (or age or world) or in the age to come. Such people WILL have to suffer the punishments of the lake of fire to be purified of such evil sins.

Sincerely, 

Ploni

Sorry I wasted your time to have you read that, but some people say that "MY" G-d is judgmental. I just want to assure you that I don't know who they are talking about but it sure isn't "MY" G-d. 

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  "YOU JUST GOTTA SAVE X-TIANITY, RICHARD! YOU GOTTA!"

	http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_45_-_The_Crusades.asp

Crash Course in Jewish History Part 45 - The Crusades
by Rabbi Ken Spiro

The Crusaders came to liberate the Holy Land from the "infidels" and woe to any Jews who stood in their way.

As long as the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire, with its seat in Constantinople, dominated the Christian Church, it maintained the balance of power between the bishop of Constantinople and the bishop of Rome. But when it began to crumble, Rome began to assert itself.

As we will see, the Crusades originated with Rome. However, before we can discuss the Crusades and how they impacted the Jews, we must first set the stage and go back in history.

Ever since the 4th century, the Western (Rome-based) Empire had been shrinking considerably, thanks to the Goths and Franks. It finally disappeared altogether in 476. The resulting vacuum in the economic, legal and administrative infrastructure led to a state of chaos. The Church, aligning itself with the Franks, stepped in to restore order.

Consciously modeling its bureaucratic framework on the model of the old, the Church created titles and administrative positions which people were used to. It's not by accident that the pope (from the Latin papa or "father") was called pontiff (from pontifex maximus or "chief priest") -- a title previously reserved for the Roman emperor.

Today we remember the period of time when the Church ruled Western Europe with an iron hand as the "Dark Ages," although more charitable historians will call it the "Middle Ages."

FEUDALISM

With its well-organized bureaucracy, the Church found itself assuming a position of paramount importance in the evolution of feudalism in European society.

Feudalism has its roots in all the warring that was going on in this period of time. To support the cavalry, the kings gave their soldiers estates of land farmed by dependent laborers. It was a huge pyramid with the majority of the population at the bottom, working as serfs or virtual slaves for somebody else.

Feudal serfs worked at backbreaking labor, dawn to dusk. They lived in absolute filth and squalor. It is impossible for us to imagine today the conditions and the deprivations of this time period.

The Church's role in the feudal system was quite ironic. Not only didn't the Church fight this injustice, the Church helped to create it, and profited handsomely from it.

The Church supported the inequality of the feudal system through its various dogmatic formulations, which strongly implied that God Himself wants things this way, that poverty has great spiritual value, and that the king is a divinely ordained human being whose authority cannot be questioned.

All though they claim to believe in the same 'old testament as us they read it in an entirely different way. 

Why? Because the Church was "a major player" in the feudal game. Early in its history, the Church started to acquire land. At first, the Church took over the properties of pagan temples and temple priests. But it continued to expand it holdings, until it became by far the biggest landowner in Europe, collecting huge amounts of taxes from the hapless peasants.

Oxford scholar Henry Phelps-Brown in Egalitarianism and the Generation of Inequality (p. 33) suggests that the Church, while it embodied monotheism, (I don't see how a trinity is monotheism) had yet to rid itself of the old Hellenistic pagan tendencies:

"Thus Christianity itself, and the views on wealth and power that came down from it, did not challenge the inequality of the secular world. They rather upheld it ... In this way they followed the main drift of the pagan philosophies. The inequality of human capacity was obvious, the need for subordination inescapable."

As the Church's empire grew in size so did its need for more money to support it. While the Crusades were launched in part to curb the growth of the Islam Empire, a key motivation was to gain new lands and wealth for the growing population of Europe. They offered an outlet for the ambitions of land-hungry knights and noblemen.

The ostensible reason given at the time, however, was the reclamation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem from the Muslims. This church had been originally built on the site identified in the 4th century by Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, as the site where Jebus (ימח שמו וזכרו) was buried following his crucifixion.

(This church still stands today, after being rebuilt by the Crusaders; it is a focal point of Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem although Protestant Christian denominations contend that it is not the site of Jebus' (ימח שמו וזכרו) burial.)

THE "NOBLE" QUEST

To our (our meaning american not necessarily monotheistic) Western minds, reared on the Hollywood version of so much history, the Crusades mean noble knights rescuing damsels in distress. Oy vey -- is that ever a lie. 

Now, it's true that there were knights, and there were kings, and there was a chivalric ideal. And that King Richard the Lionhearted, a Crusade leader, (who was incidentally one of the worst kings England ever had) was definitely a macho warrior. But that's pretty much where it ends.

The Crusades turned into campaigns of slaughter, rape, and pillage, and woe to the poor Jews ( and arabs ) in the way. Indeed, the Crusades mark the first large-scale mob violence directed against Jews which is going to become, unfortunately, the pattern for the next hundreds of years. The later pogroms are just going to be a repeat of this idea.

The Jews were not the only -- and in fact, not the primary -- victims of the Crusaders. Muslims were. If you're a student of Islamic history, you know that a large part of the reason why the Arab world is today the way it is has to do with the Crusades . All the brutality directed toward them devastated the Arab peoples economically, made the Arab world very closed, and contributed to Arab hatred of the West. (thanks alot! we really needed that)

(Why do Arabs paint the doors of their houses blue to this day? To ward off the evil eye. Why blue? One explanation is that it was the color of the blue-eyed northern Europeans that came to slay them.)

There were altogether ten Crusades covering a swath of time between the 11th through the 13th centuries (CE):

• The First Crusade, 1095-1099, saw the taking of Jerusalem from the Muslims, the slaughter of both the Muslim and Jewish populations of the city, and the establishment of the Crusader-run Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (which lasted only until 1187).
  
  
• The Second Crusade, 1147-1149, was organized to help the Christians to recover lands which they lost to the Turks, but it ended in dismal failure.
  
  
• The Third Crusade 1189-1192 was organized after Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, recaptured Jerusalem. This is the Crusade in which King Richard the Lionhearted figured. It was a failure.
  
  
• The Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204, saw the capture of Constantinople, which at the time was occupied by Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians, who did not recognize the authority of the Roman Pope (יש''ז).
  
  
• The Children's Crusade, 1212, sent thousands of children for the Holy Land, where they were captured by Muslims only to be sold as slaves or to die of hunger or disease. (what was the point of that ?)
  
  
• The Fifth Crusade, 1217-21, was aimed at Egypt, but failed.
  
  
• Four more Crusades mounted in the 13th century failed to reverse the Muslim gains. In 1291 the last Crusader stronghold at Acco fell.

That's the picture in a nutshell. Now we can look in greater detail at the aspects of the Crusades which most impacted on the Jews.

(For anyone interested in knowing more about specific Crusades, the authoritative source is a book by H.E. Mayer, called The Crusades, published Oxford University Press.)

INFIDEL CLEANSING

Pope Urban II (יש''ז) mounted the first campaign, in part in response to a plea for help from Christians in Constantinople who were besieged by the Muslims. Its aim was to beat back the "infidels"(that means you and me) (as Christians called their fellow (what happened to love your fellow as yourself?) monotheists) and to recapture the Holy Land.

To sweeten the pie, the Pope (יש''ז) promised those that signed up that there would be plenty of booty, not to mention the spiritual benefit of having all your sins forgiven by God. (Kill jews and arabs AND get your sins forgiven ... oh boy! oh boy )

The Pope (יש''ז) received an enthusiastic response. An armed force of 15,000 -- including 5,000 knights and the rest infantry -- set off wearing a large red cross (kinda like the nazis (יש''ז)) on their outer garments (hence their name Crusaders from the Latin word meaning "cross," though they called themselves "pilgrims").

A peasant force also joined in. As these peasants started marching through Europe (in advance of the knights), they needed to eat, and eat they did by pillaging the countryside. As they were marching along they got the idea that they might as well get rid of the infidels in their midst -- namely the Jews.

Here is one eyewitness account of an attack on the Jewry of Mainz in May of 1096. This comes from The First Crusade by August Krey, and it is a letter written by a Jew who survived:

"The Jews of the city, knowing of the slaughter of their brethren fled in hope of safety to the Bishop of Ruthard. They put an infinite treasure in his guard and trust having much faith in his protection. He placed the Jews in a very spacious hall in his own house that they might remain safe and sound in a very secure and strong place.

"But ... the band held council, and after sunrise attacked the Jews in the hall with arrows and lances, breaking down the bolts in the doors. They killed the Jews, about 700 in number who in vain resisted the force of an attack of so many thousands. They killed the women also and with their sword pierced tender children whatever age and sex..."

This is how about 30%-50% of the Jewish community of Europe met its end. Some 10,000 Jews of an estimated population of about 20,000-30,000 were slaughtered by Crusaders mobs.

FALL OF JERUSALEM

After conquering Antioch in Turkey, the Crusaders got to Jerusalem ( יבנה מהרה), many of their number gone due to the heavy fighting along the way.

At the gates of Jerusalem, fighting in the blistering sun heating up their heavy impregnable armor, many more of the knights died.(ברוך ה')

In Part 44, in our discussion of Rashi, we mentioned the French nobleman Godfrey du Bouillon. Godfrey -- plus Raymond of Guilles, Raymond of Flanders, and Robert of Normandy -- besieged the gates of Jerusalem which at that time had a significant population of Jews. Their forces breached the walls and poured into the city.

(Incidentally, the Crusader cry of "Hep! Hep!" originated at this time. It was an acronym for the Latin of "Jerusalem Has Fallen." With time it became "Hip, Hip, Hooray!" -- a cheer that Jews never (should) use.)

What happened after the Crusaders entered the city?

We have one account from Ibn Al Kalanisi, the Moslem chronicler, describing hair-raising behavior of unnecessary brutality. The poor Jews had all huddled together in a synagogue and this is where the Crusaders found them, set the place on fire, and burned them alive.

The Crusaders, once they conquered Jerusalem, embarked on a vast building effort all over Israel. The ruins of the many fortresses and churches they built can be visited today. (Most of these were destroyed by the Muslims once they reclaimed their earlier holdings, in fear that the Crusaders would return.)

The Crusaders established special orders of knights to look after this kingdom. Those that interest us in particular are the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitalers.

The Knights Templars were stationed on the Temple Mount (hence their name). Interestingly, Knights Templars did not destroy the Dome of the Rock (though the Crusaders did destroy all the mosques that they did not turn into churches). Why? They thought it was the "Temple of Solomon," and that the nearby Al Aksa mosque was the "Palace of Solomon." (I thought they read the bible!?)(See Jerusalem: An Archeological Biography by Hershel Shanks, p. 238-239.)

So what did they do? They removed the crescent from the top of the Dome of the Rock, replaced it with a cross, and called the place Templum Domini, "Temple of God." They turned the El Aksa mosque, as well as the vaulted space below the mosque, into a monastery. Consistent with their other errors, they called this space, which had been built by Herod -- "Solomon's Stables."

(These so-called stables have recently been excavated by the Muslim Wakf and transformed into another mosque amid enormous archeological devastation, which the government of Israel felt powerless to stop.)

The Knights Hospitalers were supposed to provide hospitality to the large numbers of Christian pilgrims who would come down and visit the Christian holy sites, and to care for the sick among them. (Thus we see the word for hospitality became synonymous with a place of care for the sick -- hospice or hospital.)

The Knights Hospitalers built their main complex near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a logical place for it. Another complex -- consisting of church, hospice and hospital -- was built in what is today the heart of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City Jerusalem near the main staircase going down to the Western Wall. This ruin has been preserved and is a tourist attraction. Nearby Crusader buildings have been renovated and are in use as apartments, schools and shops. (See Jerusalem Architecture by David Kroyanker, p. 37-43.)

Needless to say, the Knights Hospitalers did not provide hospitality to Jews. In fact, they brought in Christian Arab tribes to help populate the city with Christians.

But Jews always yearned to be part of the holy city. One such Jew, who braved the Crusader occupation of the Holy Land, was none other than the famed poet and writer Judah HaLevi (זצ'ל) (whose work The Kuzari we discussed in Part 44).

Judah HaLevi managed to reach the city, but was trampled to death by a Christian Arab horseman just outside one of the city gates. As he lay dying, he is said to have recited one of his own poems: "Zion, shall I see you ... I shall cherish your stones and kiss them, and your earth will be sweeter than honey to my taste." (See Martin Gilbert, Jerusalem: An Illustrated Atlas, p. 21.)

SULTAN SALADIN

The reign of the Crusaders over the Holy Land was short lived. In less than one hundred years, in fact in 1187, the Crusaders are conquered by Sultan Saladin of Egypt (whose family, by-the-way was employing Maimonides (זצ'ל The RamBam) as their physician as we saw in Part 44).

Sultan Saladin beat the Crusaders at what was one of the most important battles in the medieval history of the Middle East -- at the Horns of Hattin, which is northwest of the Sea of Galilee. There Saladin very skillfully managed to lure the Crusaders out into the open. In the middle of the summer and burning heat, they found themselves vastly outmaneuvered and outnumbered, and this is how Saladin destroyed them.

Even though they lost Jerusalem, the Crusaders didn't give up. They mounted campaign after campaign to recoup the Holy Land. They never did get Jerusalem back, (although the Moslems did grant them access to Christian holy sites there (that was nice of them )). Finally, in 1291, the last Crusader stronghold -- in Acco (also known as Acre) -- fell.

Today we have amazing ruins from the Crusader period all over Israel. Some of the most massive and impressive are in Caesarea, Acco, Tiberias (Tveriah) and in Belvoir (near the battle site of Hattin). If you should happen to visit any of these sites, keep in mind while admiring them, what the Crusaders did to the Jews.

NEXT: BLOOD LIBEL

Note:
I have received a lot of feedback from Christian readers regarding the topic of Medieval anti-Semitism. Most of the comments come from evangelical Christians who claim that those who persecuted Jews in the Middle Ages were not really true Christians and that I shouldn't lump all Chritians together.

Readers of this series should understand that this is a history series and as such, it reflects the historical realities of the past. One thousand years ago in Western Europe, there were no evangelicals. The Catholic Church reigned supreme. Superstitious, violent anti-Semitism was rampant and there were no Christian supporters of the Jewish people.

Today, thank God, the situation is very different. There are tens of millions of Christians who are good friends (with friends like these? ) of the Jewish people and true supporters of Israel.

In no way is the series meant to reflect the modern realities of Jewish-Chrisitan interaction, nor is it meant as an attack against Israel's true friends and allies. My sincere apologies if it was understood to be otherwise.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Ken Spiro

Author Biography:

Rabbi Ken Spiro is originally from New Rochelle,NY. He graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Russian Language and Literature and did graduate studies at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. He has Rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem and a Masters Degree in History from The Vermont College of Norwich University. Rabbi Spiro is also a licensed tour guide by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five children where he works as a senior lecturer and researcher on Aish HaTorah outreach programs.

What it would take to constitute a perfect world? Ken Spiro questioned more than 1,500 people of various backgrounds, revealing six core elements: respect for human life; peace and harmony; justice and equality; education; family; and, social responsibility. A highly readable and well-documented book about the origins of values and virtues in Western civilization as influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Christians, Muslims and, most significantly, the Jews.

"This is a book that everyone in the world should read"
Kirk Douglas-Actor and author

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