Welcome to AllFaith.com and Beit Emunah's AllFaith Community Worship! This is a community service for all people of the Light. We invite your participation and contributions.

We are a community of diverse people from different and unique backgrounds united in the belief that God is ONE and desires that we be of one spirit.

We begin this week with our desire for peace and unity. Join me with your mics off (due to interenet latency)

We Are One In The Spirit

We may go a little long this week, however, as a new/ancient holy war is underway between Judeo-Christianity and Shia Islam, sharing this information about our religious origins seems to be in order. In part because of the widespred belief that God saved President Trump from death when he was shot in the head in Butler, PA., cultural efforts are underway in the United States to restore our Judeo-Christian culture. Christians across the nation are pryaing for his success and some American Jews are as well. In Israel the US President is loved by the Jewish masses like no president before him. The Shia Iranian mulahs are viewing the current situation as a holy war, whether the West realizes this or not. It not a war between nations. Millions on all sides a war are viewing this as a war between Allah and HaShem.

The Hebrew Patriarch Avraham ben Terah, who was born in the 2nd Millennium BCE according to scholars, or circa 1879 HH (Ha'luach Ha'ivri, the Hebrew Calendar), or 1882 BCE, is believed to be the patriarch of the three most enduring religions in history, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Modern scholarship now accepts Avraham's historicity based on the archeological excavation of a royal palace at Mari, an ancient city on the Euphrates, for example, which brought to light thousands of cuneiform tablets (consisting of official archives and correspondence, and religious and juridical texts) affirming his life.

Avraham was heavily influenced by the religions and religious themes that permeated the East during his generation. Among these were those of ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Sumer, Babylon, and Persian Zoroastrianism, which themselves emerged through the much older Vedic Sanatana Dharma. These belief systems were foundational to Abraham's religious conceptions that passed forward through the three world religions.

While Zarathustra lived after Abraham, his Zoroastrianism played a profound role in solidifying the Abrahamic concepts of universality, messianism, demons, judgement day, and the afterlife, good and evil, and most importantly, they helped form Avraham's conception of monotheism that was his hallmark religious contribution. All the mentioned religions and others predate Avraham by at least 500 years and Moses by at least a thousand.

The origins of Sanatana Dharma, also known as "Hinduism," are so ancient as to be undatable. Its Vedic system significantly influenced Sumerian and Egyptian beliefs, which precede Abraham by at least 2,000 years.

For religion, like everything else, the only constant is change. The quest for God did not begin with Avraham Avinu! Religious and spiritual understandings are constantly evolving. Avraham is often cited as the first to to teach monotheism, however Zoroaster is generally credited with establishing one of the first monotheistic religions, Zoroastrianism, in ancient Persia. The Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten also introduced a form of monotheism, Atenism, in ancient Egypt around the same period. God is what and who God is regardless of our beliefs.

We believe God is unchanging, but our understanding of the Holy One is constantly evolving toward or away from the One Light of Truth. We live within an ever-changing duality, Truth is without beginning and humanity has always sought for it.

Jews, Christians, and Muslims are observing religious holidays this week: We wish them peace, love, and light as they celebrate.

• Shavuot begins tonight at sunset. This biblical Jewish agricultural holiday, also known as the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), was refocused by the Rabbinate to celebrate the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai (despite the fall holiday of Simchat Torah for the same purpose). Shavuot is observed for one day in Israel and two days everywhere else. It concludes the annual Omer Count. Chag Shavuot Samach!
• Christian Pentecost is today. This Christian holiday, also known as White (as in Holy) Sunday, celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit (or Hebrew Ruach HaKodesh) upon the Apostles after Yeshua's ascension as described in Acts chapter two. It is observed on the 50th day after Easter Sunday.
  
  According to Christianity, after Yeshua's resurrection from the dead, he remained on the earth for fifty additional days. During this time, he affirmed both his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead by being seen by many people and eating with them. During these fifty days, he lived without blood in his body as attested in Luke 24:39, where he tells his disciples, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." Notice the phrase "flesh and bones" rather than "flesh and blood." The belief is that he poured out all of his blood during his sacrifice for the world's sins. Then, at the conclusion of the fifty days, he ascended bloodlessly, bodily into the heavens. Note the parallels between the Omer count and Shavuot (Jewish Pentecost), and Yeshua’s bodily ascension into Heaven, similar to that of Enoch and Elijah, not dying but escaping death entirely in their case. These and others intend to demonstrate the Christian belief that Yeshua or Jesus was "the Word" or Logos in Greek (John 1:1), the Living Torah (celebrated on Shavuot/Pentecost by Jews), continues alive and is "greater than Moses" as stated at Hebrews 3:3, Matthew 17:1-8, etc.
• Holy Spirit Monday is tomarrow. This is the day after Christian Pentecost, also known as White (as in Holy) Monday, and is celebrated in some Christian traditions
• Day of Arafah is this Wednesday. This is the second day of the Muslim Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and coincides with the fasting day before Eid al-Adha for those not on the pilgrimage.
• Waqfat Arafat Day is this Thursday. This day precedes Eid al-Adha and is the most important day of the annual Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Pilgrims spend the day on Mount Arafat in prayer and reflection.
• Sacrifice Feast Eve is also this Thursday. This is the eve of Eid al-Adha, also known as Tabaski in some regions.
• Eid al-Adha: (also known as Eid-e-Ghorban) is this Thursday - Monday June 9. This major Islamic festival is celebrated from the 10th to the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. It commemorates Prophet Avraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. Note that according to Islam, Avraham sacrificed Hagar's son Ishmael, not Sarah's son Yitzach (Isaac). Islam rejects the accuracy of the biblical Akaida, binding of Isaac, and certain other accounts claiming the Jews altered them to steal the birthright from Ishmael.

God is One and yet we are so divided! Our infighting led to the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple. If we would simply lay our differences aside and focus on our commonalities the world could be so much more amazing! There would be peace, an end to war and hunger... Just imagine what we could do if we united are One God with faith and mutual respect!

We Can Do Good!

Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all claim Avraham as their origin. Given the confluence of the three religion’s observances this week, it seems fitting to take a look at the three.

• Biblical Religion: "Biblical religion" began with Adam and Chava or Eve, the first couple. They worship God as Elohim (God of all).
  
  Two thousand years later, Avraham was selected by One God to father a covenanted Nation of Preists (Exodus 19:6) to guide the other people groups after the Tower of Babel was destroyed. According to the Torah, the lineage of this priesthood was to pass through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, progenitor of 12 tribes.
  
  Five to six hundred years later, a righteous man, Moshe of the tribe of Levi, was given the Torah Law to guide the Israeli Priesthood. All three wprld religions accept the Torah or Penteteuch as God's revealed Word.



• Biblical Judaism: Ten of the 12 tribes were "divorced" by God circa 722 BCE, leaving Judah and Benjamin to continue the Torah preisthood. After being punished by God for their sins by enslavement in Babylon, the Israelite religion continued through the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and became known as Judaism: the religion of the tribe of Judah.
  
  The Bible begins with the universal worship of One God, often referred to as Elohim, the God of gods or supreme God. Once the Ten Northern Houses of "Israel," known collectively as Ephraim, were "divorced" by the God of Israel, only Judah and Benjamin remained and Judaism became the sole recognized religion of Judah and Benjamin (II Kings 17:18, Jeremiah 3:8).



• "Rabbinic Judaism" emerged as the dominant form of Judaism following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and was consolidated as such between then and the 6th century with the completion of the Talmud. Before this, Israelite religion was governed by the Levitical priesthood, the judges, the kings, and finally by the Nava'aim or prophets. The Bible authorizes no one after the prophets.
  
  The origins of "Rabbinic Judaism" are therefore debated. Most accept that the "Rabbis" are the Jewish sect previously called the Prushim (or Pharisees). The Pharisee sect began between 165-160 BCE, during the Hasmonean period, following the Maccabean revolt. That's about all that is certain.
  
  According to the Chofetz Chaim and other Rabbinic authorities, God destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 CE due to Pharisaical hypocrisies, exclusionism, and infighting. After that, the Pharisees became known as the Rabbis (the term "rabbi" for teacher predates this period by a bit).
  
  The rise of Rabbinic power marked a significant shift in the practice of Judaism, with the focus shifting from collective temple-based worship and sacrifice by the people, to their intellectual leaders studying the Torah and Talmud on their behalf. The rabbis claim their sect was established by the biblical Prophet Ezra and "the Men of the Great Assembly," or Anshei Knesset HaGedola during the early Hellenistic period, early Second Temple period (around 516 BCE), however, there is no evidence from Ezra or any other biblical or external source, other than the Rabbinic Talmud, that this assembly took place. The claim seems baseless. Furthermore, neither the word "Pharisee" (Prushim) nor "Rabbi" appears in the Hebrew Bible. The word "Pharisee" appears 11 times in 10 verses of the New Testament, with the Greek word pharisaios. "Rabbinic Judaism", rooted in the teachings of the Pharisees from the Maccabean period, and elaborated in the Rabbinic Talmud (written in the 4th to 7th centuries CE), provides the framework for Jewish life and practice. "Rabbinic Judaism" is a very different religion from biblical religion and Biblical Judaism, which can't be observed without the Jerusalem Temple. "Rabbinic Judaism" is about the same age as Christianity, if not a hundred years or so younger.



• Derech Yeshua: the Way Sect and Christianity: Yeshua ben Miriam is believed to have been a first-century Israeli Jew and an opponent of both the Pharisees and Sadducees. According to the New Testament presentation, he was favorable towards the Essene Jewish sect, but felt they were too stringent. John the Baptist, Yeshua’s cousin, was an Essene, as were Mary, Martha, and Lazarus referenced in the Gospels. Yeshua accused the Pharisee's yet unwritten oral traditions that later became the Mishna and Talmud of seeking to replace the Torah of Moshe with the teachings of the Pharisees, as described in Matthew 15:9. This was an accurate assessment of their intentions in hind sight.
  
  Yeshua had an uncertain but sizable following among the Jews of his day as well as some Gentiles, whom he discouraged from following him in Matthew 15:24 saying he had only come for "the lost sheep of Israel." A phrase with a few different interesting interpretations.
  
  The Pharisees felt threatened by Yeshua's popularity and criticism, but Roman law restricted their ability to stop his movement during his three-and-a-half-year reform efforts or following. Finally, the Roman government arrested Yeshua for treason against Rome and executed him on a stake (a starous, not a cross, circa 33 CE.
  
  In 70 CE, as discussed before, God used the Romans to destroy the Jerusalem Temple, marking the end of biblical Judaism. Following that, "the Jews" continued worshipping together, but as Rabbinic power increased, the followers of Yeshua's sect were kicked out of the Rabbinic communities, as discussed in Acts 13. Acts 15:13-21 records how the Way sect met to establish itself as an independent Jewish sect. After the exile from Eretz Israel, the Rabbinic Jews established largely isolated communities for themselves while the followers of Derech Yeshua settled among the general populations, partly as missionaries. Soon, converts outnumbered Jews in the Way communities, and the Way sect lost its ethnic Jewish identity and embraced alien to them beliefs.
  
  The religion of Mandaeism, which views John the Baptist as the final and greatest prophet (the believe Yeshua was a false prophet) never amounted to much but still exists today. Mandaeism is the only still surviving Gnostic sect of antiquity. There are an estamated 60,000 Mandaeans remaining today.
  
  In the Third Century CE, as the Pharisees began writing the Mishnah and Talmud, Emperor Constantine absorbed the Way Sect, and it evolved into Roman Catholicism (Universalism). The "Christian Church," Mandaeism, and "Rabbinic Judaism" were all that remained of the former biblical religion, each claiming to be its rightful inheritor. Christianity divided East and West in 1054. The Church of England (Anglican) left the Western Papal Church in the 16th century, soon followed by the Protestant Reformation. Beginning in the late 1800's Judaism divided into the Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative movements with other splits following.



• Islam: Then, in the 7th century CE, in Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula, Muhammad, a likely physical descendant of the biblical Abraham through his wife's Egyptian concubine Hagar (according to the biblical version), established Islam.
  
  According to Islam (which means "submission"), at the age of 40, Muhammad began receiving revelations from God whom he knew as Hubal Sin, through the angel Gabriel. His desert religion called Hubal Sin Al-lah or "The God." These revelations are supposed to form the basis of Muhammad's written revelation, the Quran, especially its earlier sections.
  
  Muhammad claimed that the Jews had contaminated the original revelation of the Torah. Muslims believe that the Eternal Covenant was actually made through Ishmael rather than Isaac; however, the Arabs had abandoned Allah to serve Hubal Sin and the 365 Arabian gods of Mecca, and so Allah elevated Moshe as a true prophet to restore submission to the Moon god Hubal Sin. Who was Hubal Sin? None other than the Moon gd Nanna, god of the Sumerian city of Ur Kasdim, where Abraham was born. The Muslims claim the Jews altered what Moses wrote. Their belief is that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael instead of Isaac, and that the Jews altered other critical aspects to modify the Covenant to empower themselves.
  
  The Jews abandoned Allah, so Yeshua was anointed as a prophet to restore submission and establish Derech Yeshua. In time, however, the Roman Emperor Constantine and others altered Yeshua's teachings. They claimed that Yeshua was Allah, which Muslims and Jews consider blasphemy, and even claimed Yeshua had been executed! Something Allah would not have allowed to happen to such a pure prophet as Yeshua. The older Apocryphal Gospel of Barnabus, like Islam, claims it was not Yeshua who was executed, but a Roman soldier made to look like him. Yeshua, whom they call Isa, was a pure prophet of Allah.
  
  Following the fall of the Way Sect, Allah again called the Northern Arab descendants of Ishmael to repentance and established Mohammad Mustafa as the final prophet. One day, the forces of Muhammad will conquer the planet by doctrine or by sword, and the earth will become one Islamic, Sharia-based caliphate with Islam as the only deen or religion. Helping to achieve this victory is a requirement for all Muslims.



• Islam Divided after Muhammad's death on June 8, 632 CE in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Sunni and Shia became the two main branches of Islam, stemming from a historical disagreement about who should succeed the Muhammad after his death. While they share core beliefs and practices, key differences exist in their interpretations of religious authority and succession. Saudi Arabia leads the Sunni and the Mullahs of Iran lead the Shia. Thw Wahabi and the Al Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) are the more active leaders of the Sunni). Sufism (tariqah) is a mystical and devotional application of Islam that emphasizes the inward search for God through spiritual practices. The majority of Sufis are Sunni although some are Shia. Sufism is often used in the early conversion periods to soften hearts towards Islam. The Durvish, like the Sufis, have pre-Islamic roots but are Islamic in every way. Some Muslims consider such group to on the fringes of Islamic orthodoxy.

Note that this is an oversimplification of what happened. Religious history is a complex topic.

Each of these three post-biblical religions claim to be the sole representative of God on earth. Each rejects the other two. Each is fraught by internal conflicts and sectarianism. As for all other religions, the three so-called Abrahamic religions agree that all systems other than their own are false. Christians and Muslims seek to convert the world to their belief systems. Rabbinic Judaism discourages conversion as a general rule, and much of it rejects most who undergo the conversion process, which contributes to anti-Semitism. This is especially true of the Orthodox and followers of the Tanya. As for the Mandaeans, they are extremely introverted and shun outsiders.

Faith in God, which is supposed to draw everyone to the Creator, our common Parent, and promote peace, love, and light, is more often used to condemn everyone outside their limited religious circle and to foster division. This, despite the many benefits the religions have brought to the planet.

One God, Our God by John of AllFaith

As the three great world faiths gather this week to celebrate, we pray God will open their eyes to the truth that God is everywhere.

God is Everywhere!

Praises and Prayers to God.

We invite you to share your prayers with us and with God now. Hold those you would pray for in your heart and release them to GOD for healing and blessing as we sing, The Lord Bless you.

THE BLESSING in Hebrew! HA BRACHA הברכה (Official Music Video) Jerusalem, Israel | Joshua Aaron

May One God hear our prayers and respond favorably to us.

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Be the Blessing you were created to be
And
Don't let the perfect defeat the good

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