Where did the universe come from? A person of faith would probably answer that the universe was created out of nothing, as stated in the first verse of the Torah. Such an answer was long considered a scientific impossibility, because it contradicted the law of the conservation of matter and energy. According to this law of science, which was established in the middle of the nineteenth century, matter and energy can be changed from one form to another, but something cannot come from nothing. Therefore, scientists viewed the universe as eternal, thus neatly avoiding questions regarding its origin. The Torah assertion that the universe was created, presumably from nothing, became an area of conflict between Torah and science. That is how matters stood for many years.

This situation has now completely changed. The twentieth century witnessed an unprecedented explosion of scientific knowledge, which was nowhere more dramatic than in cosmology, the discipline that deals with the origin and development of the universe. Astronomers had been studying the heavenly bodies for thousands of years, but their studies dealt exclusively with charting the paths of the stars, planets, and comets, and determining their composition, spectrum, and other properties. The origin of the heavenly bodies remained a complete mystery.

Today, an overwhelming body of scientific evidence supports the “big bang” theory of cosmology.

Important advances in cosmology during the past few decades have, for the first time, permitted scientists to construct a coherent history of the origin of the universe.

Today, an overwhelming body of scientific evidence supports the “big bang” theory of cosmology.¹ There are four major pieces of evidence: (1) the discovery in 1965 of the remnant of the initial ball of light, (2) the hydrogen-to-helium ratio in the universe, (3) the Hubble expansion of the galaxies, and (4) the perfect black-body spectrum of the microwave background radiation measured by the COBE space satellite in 1990.

Only the big bang theory can account for all these observations, and therefore this theory is now accepted by all mainstream cosmologists.

The most surprising assertion of the big bang theory is that the universe was literally created from nothing. It is instructive here to quote the world’s leading authorities:

“It seems certain that there was a definite time of creation.”² Professor Paul Dirac, Nobel laureate from the University of Cambridge

“The instant of creation remains unexplained.”³ Professor Alan Guth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“The creation lies outside the scope of the known laws of physics.”⁴ Professor Stephen Hawking, University of Cambridge

“The big bang is the modern version of creation.”⁵Professor Joseph Silk, University of California

Today, it is not possible to carry on a meaningful discussion of cosmology without the creation of the universe assuming a central role. Professor Brian Greene, a theoretical physicist at Columbia University, wrote in 1999: “The modern theory of cosmic origins asserts that the universe erupted from an enormously energetic event, which spewed forth all space and all matter.”⁶

When cosmologists use the term “creation,” to what are they referring? Precisely what object was created? Scientists have discovered that the universe began with the sudden appearance of an enormous ball of light, commonly called the “primeval light-ball.” This “explosion of light” was dubbed the “big bang” by British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. The remnant of the initial ball of light was detected in 1965 by two American physicists, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery.

“The laws of nature came into existence together with the Big Bang, as did space and time.”

People sometimes ask what existed before the big bang, the event that marked the creation of the universe. Professor John Wheeler of Princeton University explains that the very concept of time did not exist before the creation. “There was no ‘before’ prior to the Big Bang. The laws of nature came into existence together with the Big Bang, as did space and time.”⁷ Wheeler emphasizes that scientists view space and time as the “stage” upon which events take place. If there is no physical world – if the universe does not exist – then neither time nor space can exist. “Time” and “space” are not independent entities; these concepts have meaning only after the creation of the physical universe.

This property of time and space can be illustrated by analogy to the concept of color. “Red” or “black” are not characteristics that are independent of any physical object. Only if macroscopic objects exist, such as grass, rocks, or houses, can one speak of these objects as being red or black. If nothing but atoms and molecules existed, then there would be no meaning to “red” or “black,” or to the entire concept of colour. There is no such thing as a red molecule. In the same way, there were no concepts of time and space before the universe came into being.

Creation and the Torah

In addition to confirming the creation of the universe, the discovery of the initial primeval light by Penzias and Wilson also answers another long-standing puzzle regarding the Torah account of creation. It is written in the Torah on the First Day of Creation: Andthere was light(Genesis 1:3). But at that time, there existed neither stars, nor sun, nor moon, nor people, nor any other known source of light. Therefore, how can one understand this “light”?

Scientists have now discovered that therewas lightat the very beginning of time: the primeval light-ball whose appearance heralded the origin of the universe. The creation of light did not occur within the existing universe. Rather, the creation of light was the creation of the universe. In other words, the Torah does not record two separate creations on the first day – the creation of the universe and the creation of light – but only one.

We now turn to the question of the time scale. How much time was required for all the cosmological events that took place at the creation of the universe? How many millions of years had to elapse before the universe was complete and assumed its present form?

All the cosmological events involved in the creation of the universe occurred within a very few minutes.

The remarkable answer is that all the cosmological events involved in the creation of the universe occurred within a very few minutes. This fact is emphasized by the dramatic title that Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg chose for his famous book on modern cosmology: The First Three Minutes.

Nowadays, cosmological events – events that alter the structure of the universe – require millions of years to occur. How could such events have occurred within just a few moments? The answer is that during the period of creation, the temperature of the universe was extremely high. Just as food cooks much more rapidly in a pressure cooker than over a low flame, in the same way, events occurred with amazing rapidity in the blazing universe at the origins of time. Professor Greene explains: “The newly borne universe evolved with phenomenal haste. Tiny fractions of a second were cosmic epochs during which the features of the universe were first imprinted. During the first three minutes after the big bang, as the simmering universe cooled, the nuclei emerged.”⁸

Thus, the formation of the first atomic nuclei – the basic building blocks of every material – was completed within three minutes after the instant of creation.

Faith

The comprehensive agreement between Torah and science described above does not prove that the Torah is of divine origin, nor does it prove that God exists. However, as we begin the twenty-first century, the person of faith is not forced to choose between accepting the latest scientific discoveries or accepting the Torah account of creation. All leading cosmologists now discuss the creation of the universe, while the Torah discusses the Creator of the universe. It is not unreasonable to assume that science and the Torah are both referring to one and the same subject. It is a pleasure for a person of faith to be living in this day and age!

The current harmony between science and faith was not always the case. Only a few decades ago, the outstanding Torah scholar Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik expressed the then-existing dichotomy between science and faith in a classic essay entitled “The Lonely Man of Faith.”⁹ Using the word “lonely” to describe the feelings of the man of faith who lives in a scientific world, Rav Soloveitchik wrote:

“Being people of faith in our contemporary world is a lonely experience. We are loyal to visionary expectations which find little support in present-day reality… Religious faith is condescendingly regarded as a subjective palliative, but is given little credence as a repository of truth.”¹⁰

Now, only half a century later, in one scientific discipline after another, the words of the scientist can hardly be distinguished from the words of “the man of faith.” Professor Stephen J. Gould of Harvard University tells us that “human intelligence is the result of a staggeringly improbable series of events, utterly unpredictable, and quite unrepeatable.”¹¹ The term “luck” is now commonly used by evolutionary biologists like Professor David Raup, past president of the American Paleontological Union, to “explain” the existence of human beings.¹² Archaeologists express their amazement at the “radical and sudden changes, with no premonitory signs”¹³ that mark the appearance of civilization, and they speak of a sudden “quantum leap in mental abilities”¹⁴ that appears in the archaeological record of human cultural behaviour. Scientists in a wide variety of disciplines discuss the “anthropic principle,” which states that the universe looks as if it had been specifically designed to permit the existence and promote the welfare of human beings.¹⁵The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy expresses this idea in the following poetic words: “In truth, we are the children of the Universe.”¹⁶

The scientific discoveries recorded above are exactly what one would expect if the Torah account of the origin of the universe was correct. Therefore, such harmony between Torah and science constitutes an important argument in support of our religious belief. Modern science has become a significant element in strengthening our ancient faith.

Reprinted from Jewish Life magazine. Download the free Jewish Life app on iOS and Android

Notes

1. See N. Aviezer, 1990, In the Beginning (Ktav Publishing House: New York).
2. P. A. M. Dirac, 1972, Commentarii, vol. 2, no. 11, p. 15.
3. A. H. Guth, May 1984, Scientific American, p. 102.
4. S. W. Hawking, 1973, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (Cambridge University Press), p. 364
5. J. Silk, 1989, The Big Bang (W. H. Freeman: New York), p. xi.
6. B. Greene, 1999, The Elegant Universe (Jonathan Cape: London), pp. 345-346.
7. J. A. Wheeler, 1998, Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam (W. W. Norton: New York), p. 350.
8. Greene, pp. 347, 350.
9. J. B. Soloveitchik, Spring 1965, Tradition, pp. 5-67.
10. See the adaptation of the 1965 Soloveitchik essay (especially p. 8) by A. R. Besdin, 1989, Man of Faith in the Modern World (Ktav: New York), pp. 36-37.
11. S. J. Gould, 1989, Wonderful Life (W. W. Norton: New York), p. 14.
12. D. M. Raup, 1991, Extinctions: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? (Oxford University Press).
13. N. Eldredge, 1985, Time Frames (Simon and Schuster: New York), p. 87.
14. N. Eldredge and I. Tattersall, 1982, The Myths of Human Evolution (Columbia University Press: New York), p. 154.
15. G. Gale, December 1981, “Anthropic Principle,” Scientific American, pp. 114-122.
16. S. Mitton, editor-in-chief, 1987, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy (Jonathan Cape: London), p. 125.

Whereas most Ashkenazi surnames are of relatively recent origin, Spanish Jews have used family names since medieval times and are used by their descendants to this very day. Although Sephardi and Ashkenazi names are distinctly different, many times they mean the same thing. For instance, the Italian surname of Montefiore is identical in meaning to the German surname Bloomberg, both of which mean ‘mountain of flowers’.

Prior to the 1492 expulsion Spain was a golden era for Jews. However, in 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree ordering all Jews living in Spain to leave the country by July 31 – the day of Tisha B’Av. Many fled to Portugal as refugees but were forcibly converted only five years later. Those that left Spain or escaped from Portugal were widely dispersed throughout the Ottoman Empire, Italy and South-Eastern Europe where they either joined existing Jewish communities or established new ones. Salonica, Morocco, Izmir, Istanbul, Holland and The Island of Rhodes are only some of the places where thriving Sephardic communities were established. Many also fled to Gibraltar and North Africa because of its proximity to the Iberian Peninsula while others were able to flee to Israel or the New World.

Most of the names listed below can be found among Inquisitional manuscripts, Church registrars, notarial archives and other ancestral records that go back for centuries in both the Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms.

Sephardic surnames often denote places of origin and were directly related to geographical locations either before or after the expulsion in 1492 or were acquired during the forced wanderings caused by the exile. Toledano (Toledo), Soriano (Soria) and Romano (Rome) are just a few examples. Other Sephardic names such as Benzaquen, Ben-Ezra and Ohana were of Hebrew or Arabic derivation.

Many family names were related to one’s profession such as Melamed, Cabrera and Alhadeff. Like their Ashkenazi brethren, surnames such as Cohen and Levy are also found among Sephardic communities and denoted Cohanic or Levitic descent. Some Jews that chose to convert and stay in Spain after the edict of expulsion took upon the names of the their Christian godparents but practiced their Judaism in secret until they were able to escape to nearby countries such as the Netherlands, England and France where they reconverted back to Judaism. Italian, Spanish, French and Latin words are commonly found among most Sephardic surnames as many of the provinces and cities in the Iberian Peninsula derived their names from these languages.

Here’s a list of some of the most famous names of the Sephardic community.

Abarbanel: From the Hebrew word ‘Av’ meaning ‘father’ , ‘Rabban’meaning ‘priest’ and ‘El‘ meaning ‘God’. One of the oldest Spanish family names which traces its origin from King David.

Abecassis: From the word ‘Av’ meaning Father and Arabic ‘kassas’meaning storyteller. In Algeria, community leaders and rabbis were given the title ‘Kassis’. Many Jews from Gibraltar, Portugal and Morocco share this name.

Adatto: From the Italian word meaning ‘suitable’ or ‘appropriate’. Jews that left Spain for Turkey via Italy took on this name.

Alhadeff: The name means “weaver” and is of Spanish/Moorish origin found most often among Jews who left Spain after the expulsion for the Greek Island of Rhodes.

Alkana: Meaning ‘God bought’ in Hebrew.

Almo/Almosimo: From Spanish meaning ‘One who gives to the poor’.

Amiel: From the Hebrew words ‘Am‘ (nation) and ‘El‘ (God) meaning ‘God’s people’ or ‘the people of God’.

Angel: The surname comes from the Hebrew word of ‘malach’meaning ‘angel’. The Angel family traces back to medieval Spain and migrated to Greece and the Island of Rhodes.

Ashkenazi/Eshkenazi: Ashkenazi meaning ‘German’. The Sephardic carriers of the surname would have some Ashkenazi ancestors who moved to Sephardi countries and joined and were adopted by those communities.

Azose: Anglicized version of the surname ‘Azuz’. The root of the name comes from the Hebrew word for strength – ‘Oz‘.

Behar: Many origins of the Behar surname. From the Hebrew ‘behor’meaning ‘eldest’ and the Turkish word, ‘Bahar’, meaning Spring. Also from Spanish ‘abeja’ meaning bee. Behar is of pre-roman origin and is also the name of a town in the Spanish province of Salamanca and was probably a habitational name for many Jews of that province. Many Sephardic Jews from Bulgaria and Greece carry this surname.

Benarouch: A patronymic name meaning ‘son of the head (leader)’ in Hebrew.

BenPorat: A patronymic name meaning ‘son of the prosperous’ in Hebrew.

Benezra: A patronymic name meaning ‘son of the helper’ in Hebrew and a popular name among Spanish Jews. There is a tradition that this family name is of priestly (Cohen) lineage.

Benaroya: From “Ben” meaning son and “Arroyo” meaning rivulet or river in Spanish. Banaroya is a variant of BenArroyo or BenArollia.

Benveniste: From the Latin ‘veniste’ meaning ‘you came’ and ‘ben’ meaning ‘son’ in Hebrew. This was a widespread Sephardic family originating in Spain that dispersed throughout the Ottoman Empire following the expulsion.

Benzaquen: Patronymic name meaning ‘son of the elder’ in Hebrew.

Cabrera: From the Catalan-Spanish meaning ‘goat herd’.

Calvo: The name Calvo comes from the Latin ‘calvus’ meaning ‘bald-headed man’ and has its own coat-of-arms. The Calvo family originated from Galicia Spain.

Carvalho: common Sephardic surname from the Portuguese word meaning ‘oak’.

Cardoza: Habitational name from Cordoza, Spain.

Coronel: From the Portuguese word meaning ‘colonel’ or ‘officer’ and also possibly from the Portuguese ‘caro’ meaning ‘dear”. The family name originally comes from Galicia, Spain and has its own coat-of-arms.

Franco: A variant of the Latin ‘Francis’ meaning ‘free one’ or ‘Frenchman’. A common surname in the Iberian Peninsula adopted by Jewish families and a reference to the Germanic Franks who invaded modern day France during the first millennium AD.

Gabay: From the Hebrew word meaning ‘warden’ (of a synagogue). This title referred to a variety of roles, but most were related to the collection of taxes, fees and other payments from Jews.

Galante: From the French word ‘galant’ meaning chivalrous or noble. The Galante family was of Portuguese/Italian descent which flourished in Rome during the 16^th century.

Halfon: Hebrew word for moneychanger.

Harari: Hebrew for ‘mountaineer’. The Harari family originated from the city of Montpellier in Southern France.

Hassan: From the Hebrew word meaning ‘cantor’, also possibly from the Arabic hassan meaning ‘handsome’. A rabbinical family that originated from Spain and settled in Morocco and Italy following the expulsion from Spain.

Laniado: Meaning ‘hairy’ in medieval Spanish.

Leon: From the region of Leon which was part of the ancient Spanish Kingdom of Castile-Leon.

Luzatto: An Italian family descended from a Jew who immigrated to Italy from the province of Lusatia, Germany.

Maimon: From Arabic/Hebrew meaning ‘fortunate’ or ‘lucky’. A prominent rabbinical family from Spain. Maimonides was known as ‘Moses ben Maimon’.

Mansour: From Arabic meaning ‘Winner’ or ‘victorious one’. Also from the Egyptian city of Mansura in the Nile Delta.

Marcus/Marciano: From the Latin ‘Marculus’ meaning ‘hammer’. An Italian name picked up by Sephardic Jews after the expulsion.

Melamed: Meaning ‘teacher’ in Hebrew.

Mitrani: Habitational name from Hebrew meaning ‘from Trani’. From the seaport town of Trani in Southern Italy.

Mizrachi: Meaning ‘Oriental’ or ‘Easterner’ in Hebrew.

Montefiore: From Italian ‘monte’ meaning ‘mountain’, and ‘fiore’meaning ‘flower’. This surname belonged to Sephardic Jews who originated from Italy.

Naor: Meaning ‘enlightened’ in Hebrew.

Nissim: From the Hebrew word meaning ‘miracles’.

Ohana: A derivative of the Hebrew name ‘Hannah’ meaning ‘gracious’ or ‘favor’. Jews with this name established themselves in Morocco and Northern Africa following the expulsion.

Ovadia: Meaning ‘God’s servant’ in Hebrew.

Pinto: From the Spanish word meaning ‘chick’. Pinto is also a province in Spain near Madrid and was most likely a name derived from the Jews that lived in this province.

Russo: From the Latin ‘russos’ meaning ‘red’. Most people with this surname and its variants have their roots in either Spain or Italy.

(Ben)Quaknine: A patronymic name meaning ‘son of Jacob’. In Berber, the diminutive name of Jacob is ‘Aqnin’. The name and variants are recorded in 13^th century Spain and Morocco.

Sasson: Meaning ‘joy’ or ‘merriment’. Found among Jews that trace their ancestry to Toledo, Spain that moved to Turkey after the expulsion.

Serfaty: Means ‘Frenchman’ in Hebrew. An Oriental family that traces its line to France and are likely descendant from Rashi.

Serrano: From the French word ‘serre’ meaning ridge or Spanish ‘serra’ meaning ‘mountain range’ in Portuguese and Catalan.

Silvera: Habitational family name from the Spanish town of Silva in Galicia, Spain. The name is derived from the Latin ‘silver’ meaning ‘wood’ or ‘forest’. Members of this family migrated to Italy after the expulsion.

Soriano: Habitational name from Soria (Castile/Leon) in northern Spain. Jews with this name established themselves in both Italy and Rhodes following the expulsion.

Souissa: From Suesa, a province of Santander, Spain

Spinoza: From the Italian ‘spinoso’ meaning ‘thorny’ and the Spanish ‘espinoso’, also ‘thorny’. The family name came be found among Jews that came from Portugal and Galicia, Spain.

Toledano: From Toledo, a province of Spain. Many families of Sephardic rabbis originated in Toledo. After the expulsion from Spain they were immigrated to Safed, Greece, Morocco, and later in Holland, England, and Turkey.

Varon: from the Latin word for man. In Spanish, ‘Varon’ means ‘man’ or ‘male’. Also possibly a habitational name for several places in Castille and Galicia with this name.

Vidal: Meaning ‘alive’ or ‘life’ in Latin (vita).

As taken from, http://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Meaning-of-Some-Common-Sephardic-Last-Names.html?s=show on August 6, 2017.

Es importante entender por qué los judíos no creen en Jesús. El propósito no es despreciar otras religiones, sino plantear y clarificar la posición judía. Cuanta más información haya para escoger, la gente podrá tomar mejores decisiones acerca de sus vidas espirituales.

Los judíos no aceptan a Jesús como su Mesías porque:

1. Jesús no cumplió las profecías mesiánicas.
2. El cristianismo contradice la teología judía.
3. Jesús no cumplió con los requisitos de Mesías.
4. Los versículos bíblicos referentes a “Jesús” son traducciones incorrectas.
5. La creencia judía se basa en una revelación nacional.

1. Jesús no cumplió las profecías mesiánicas

¿Qué es lo que el Mesías tiene que lograr?

La Biblia dice que debe:

• Construir el Tercer Templo (Ezequiel 37:26-28)
• Reunir a todos los judíos de regreso en la Tierra de Israel (Isaías 43:5-6).
• Traer una era de paz mundial, acabar con el odio, la opresión, el sufrimiento y la enfermedad. Como está escrito: “Una nación no levantará espada contra otra nación; y tampoco los hombres estudiarán más cómo hacer guerra”(ver Isaías 2:4).
• Esparcir un conocimiento universal sobre el Dios de Israel, uniendo a toda la raza humana como una. Como está escrito: “Dios será Rey sobre todo el mundo; ese día, Dios será Uno y Su Nombre será Uno” (Zacarías 14:9).

El hecho histórico es que Jesús no cumplió con ninguna de estas profecías mesiánicas.

2. El cristianismo contradice la teología judía

¿Dios como tres?

La idea cristiana de la trinidad divide a Dios en tres entes separados: El Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo (Mateo 28:19).

Esto contradice al Shemá, la base de la creencia judía: “Escucha Israel, el Señor es nuestro Dios, el Señor es UNO” (Deuteronomio 6:4). Los judíos declaran la unicidad de Dios cada día, escribiéndola en los marcos de sus puertas —las mezuzot—, y atándola a sus brazos y a sus cabezas —los Tefilin—. Esta aseveración de la unicidad de Dios son las primeras palabras que se le enseñan a un niño judío, y las últimas palabras que se dicen antes de morir.

En la ley judía, el adorar a una trinidad divina es considerado idolatría, uno de los pecados cardinales por los cuales un judío debe dar la vida antes de transgredirlo. Esto explica por qué durante las inquisiciones y durante toda nuestra historia, los judíos han preferido dar sus vidas antes que convertirse.

¿El hombre como Dios?

Los cristianos creen que Dios vino a la tierra tomando la forma de un hombre, como Jesús dijo: “Yo y el Padre somos uno” (Juan 10:30).

Maimónides dedica la mayoría de su libro “La Guía de los Perplejos” a la idea fundamental de que Dios carece de cuerpo, es decir de una forma física. Dios es Eterno, está por encima del tiempo. Es Infinito, más allá del espacio. No pudo haber nacido y no puede morir. Decir que Dios asume una forma humana hace a Dios pequeño, destruyendo Su Unicidad y Divinidad, como dice la Torá: “Dios no es un mortal” (Números 23; 19).

El judaísmo dice que el Mesías va a nacer de padres humanos, con atributos físicos como cualquier otra persona. No va a ser un semi-dios, y no va a poseer características sobrenaturales. De hecho, un individuo vive en cada generación con la capacidad de tomar el papel de Mesías (ver Maimónides, Leyes de Reyes 11:3).

¿Intermediario para el rezo?

Una idea básica del cristianismo es que el rezo debe ser dirigido a través de un intermediario —por ejemplo, confesar los pecados a un cura—. Jesús mismo es un intermediario, como él mismo dijo: “Ningún hombre se acerca al Padre sino a través mío”.

En el judaísmo, el rezo es una cuestión totalmente privada, entre cada individuo y Dios. Como la Biblia dice: “Dios está cercano a todo aquel que lo llame verdaderamente” (Salmos 145: 18). Más aún, los Diez Mandamientos dicen: “No debes tener otros dioses delante de Mí”, es decir que está prohibido poner un mediador entre Dios y el hombre. (Ver Maimónides, Leyes de idolatría Cáp. 1).

Participación en el mundo físico

El cristianismo comúnmente trata al mundo físico como algo malo que debe ser evitado. María, la mujer cristiana más sagrada es retratada como una virgen. Entre los curas y las monjas son célibes. Los monasterios están en lugares remotos y alejados.

Por el contrario, el judaísmo cree que Dios creó el mundo físico para nuestro beneficio, no para frustrarnos. La espiritualidad judía se obtiene mediante la utilización del mundo físico de manera tal que lo eleva. Las relaciones íntimas en un contexto adecuado es uno de los actos más sagrados que una persona puede realizar.

El Talmud dice que si una persona tiene la oportunidad de probar una fruta nueva y se rehúsa a hacerlo, tendrá que rendir cuentas de ello en el mundo venidero. Asimismo, las escuelas rabínicas judías enseñan cómo actuar correctamente en el ámbito comercial. Los judíos no se retiran de la vida, la elevan.

3. Jesús no cumplió con los requisitos de mesías

Mesías como profeta

Jesús no fue un profeta. La profecía sólo puede existir cuando la tierra está habitada por una mayoría de judíos. Durante el tiempo de Ezrá (C. año 300 a.e.c.) la mayoría de los judíos se rehusaron a desplazarse de Babilonia hacia Israel, por ende la profecía terminó con la muerte de los últimos profetas: Jagai, Zacarías y Malají.

Jesús apareció en la escena aproximadamente 350 años después de terminada la época de los profetas.

Descendiente de David

El Mesías debe ser descendiente del rey David por el lado paterno (Ver Génesis 49:10 e Isaías 11:1). De acuerdo al cristianismo que dice que Jesús fue producto del nacimiento de una virgen, él no tuvo un padre, y por ende no pudo haber tenido la posibilidad de cumplir la profecía mesiánica de ser descendiente del rey David por el lado paterno.

Observancia de la Torá

El Mesías va hacer que el pueblo judío cumpla con todas las leyes de la Torá. La Torá plantea que todas las mitzvot permanecerán obligatorias para siempre y que cualquiera que venga a cambiar la Torá es inmediatamente identificado como un falso profeta (Deuteronomio 13; 1-4).

A lo largo del nuevo testamento Jesús contradice a la Torá y dice que seis mandamientos ya no son aplicables (Juan 1:45 y 9:16, Hechos 3:22 y 7:37).

4. Los versículos bíblicos referentes a “Jesús” son traducciones incorrectas

Los versículos bíblicos sólo pueden ser entendidos al estudiar el texto en su idioma original, lo que revela muchas discrepancias con la traducción cristiana.

Una virgen dio a luz

La idea cristiana de que una virgen dio a luz ha derivado de un versículo en Isaías que describe a una “almá” dando a luz. La palabra hebrea “almá” siempre ha significado “una mujer joven”, pero los teólogos cristianos vinieron siglos después a traducirla como “virgen”. Esto está de acuerdo con la idea pagana de que los mortales son absorbidos por dioses.

Crucifixión

El versículo en Salmos 22:17 dice: “Como un león ellos están en mis manos y pies”. La palabra hebrea ke-arí (como un león) es gramaticalmente similar a la palabra “clavado”. Sin embargo, el cristianismo lee el versículo como una referencia a la crucifixión: “Ellos perforaron mis manos y pies”.

Un sirviente que sufre

Los cristianos declaran que en el libro de Isaías, capítulo 53, el texto se refiere a Jesús. Pero en realidad, el profeta Isaías en el capítulo 53 de su libro continúa directamente el tema del capítulo 52 describiendo el exilio y la redención del pueblo judío. Las profecías están escritas en el singular puesto que los judíos (“Israel”) son considerados como una unidad. La Torá está llena de ejemplos del pueblo judío considerado con un pronombre singular.

Irónicamente las profecías de persecución de Isaías se refieren en parte al siglo XI cuando los judíos fueron torturados y matados por las cruzadas que actuaron en nombre de Jesús.

¿De dónde surgieron estas traducciones erróneas? San Gregorio, el Arzobispo de Nacianzo del siglo IV escribió: “Un poquito de jerga es todo lo que se necesita para imponerse sobre la gente. Cuanto menos comprendan, más admirarán”.

5. La creencia judía se basa en una revelación nacional

De las 15.000 religiones que existieron en la historia de la humanidad sólo el judaísmo basa sus creencias en una revelación nacional, es decir: Dios hablándole a todo el pueblo. Si Dios va a comenzar una religión, tiene sentido que se lo diga a todos y no sólo a una persona.

El judaísmo, único entre la mayoría de las religiones principales del mundo, no basa sus creencias en “declaraciones de milagros” para establecer su religión. De hecho la Biblia dice que Dios algunas veces garantiza el poder de hacer “milagros” a los charlatanes, para poder probar la lealtad de los judíos hacia la Torá. (Deuteronomio. 13:4).

Maimónides dice (Fundamentos de la Torá Cáp. 8):

Los judíos no creyeron en Moshé, nuestro maestro, por los milagros que realizó. Cuando la creencia de una persona está basada en ver milagros, tiene dudas persistentes, porque es posible que los milagros fueran hechos a través de la magia o la brujería. Todos los milagros realizados por Moshé en el desierto ocurrieron porque fueron necesarios, y no como prueba de su profecía.

¿Cuál fue entonces la base de la creencia judía? La revelación en el Monte Sinai, que vimos con nuestros propios ojos y escuchamos con nuestros oídos, sin depender del testimonio de otros. Como está escrito: “Cara a cara, Dios habló contigo…”. La Torá también cita: “Dios no hizo este pacto con nuestros padres, sino con nosotros – que estamos todos vivos hoy”. (Deuteronomio 5:3).

El judaísmo no está basado en “milagros”. Es la experiencia personal de cada hombre, mujer y niño.

Judíos y gentiles

El judaísmo no demanda que todos se conviertan a la religión judía. La Torá de Moshé es la verdad para la humanidad, sea la persona un judío o no. El rey Salomón le pidió a Dios contestar los rezos de los no-judíos que iban al Templo Sagrado (Reyes I 8:41-43). El profeta Isaías se refiere al Templo como la “Casa para las naciones”. El servicio en el Templo durante Sucot presentaba 70 sacrificios animales correspondientes a las 70 naciones del mundo. (De hecho, el Talmud dice que si los romanos se hubieran dado cuenta del beneficio que obtenían del Templo, nunca lo hubieran destruido).

Los judíos nunca han buscado convertir a la gente, puesto que la Torá prescribe un camino adecuado para los gentiles, llamado las “Siete leyes de Noaj”. Maimónides explica que cualquier ser humano, que con fe observa estas leyes morales básicas, gana un lugar propio en el cielo.

Trayendo al Mesías

Maimónides declara que la popularidad del cristianismo (y del Islam) es parte del plan de Dios de extender las ideas de la Torá a todo el mundo. Esto mueve a la sociedad hacia un estado perfecto de moralidad, y hacia una mayor comprensión de Dios. Todo esto en preparación para la era mesiánica.

Por cierto, el mundo está desesperadamente necesitado de la redención mesiánica. La guerra y la contaminación ambiental amenazan nuestro planeta; el ego y la confusión erosionan nuestra vida familiar. Hasta donde estemos conscientes de los problemas sociales, es el determinante de nuestro anhelo por la redención. Como dice el Talmud, una de las primeras preguntas que se le hace a un judío en su juicio celestial es: “¿Has anhelado la llegada del Mesías?”.

¿Cómo podemos apresurar la llegada del Mesías? La mejor manera es amar generosamente a toda la humanidad, cuidar las mitzvot de la Torá (como mejor podamos), y animar a los demás a que también lo hagan.

A pesar de la penumbra, el mundo está encaminado hacia la redención. Un signo evidente es que los judíos han regresado a la Tierra de Israel y la han hecho florecer nuevamente.

Además, hay un gran movimiento de jóvenes judíos regresando a las tradiciones de la Torá.

El Mesías puede venir en cualquier momento, y todo depende de nuestras acciones. Dios estará listo cuando nosotros lo estemos. Como dijo el rey David: “La redención llegará hoy, si escuchas Su voz”.

Según tomado de, http://www.aishlatino.com/e/f/48420212.html?s=mpw el jueves, 3 de agosto de 2017.