Average citizen Peter Parkenstein was walking home one day when he was bitten by a piece of radioactive matzo. Now he hides in the shadows  and fights crime as the spectacular caped avenger, Afiko Man!

*Not actually coming soon to a comic store near you

The obvious answer is of course “One” and I didn’t  have much to say after that.  However on further reflection I think the obvious answer is inadequate.  I would have done better to answer the question with a question of my own; “Which ones?”

How many people does it take to follow His law about two witnesses?  How many to properly carry the ark, or to be fruitful and multiply?  How many does it take to fully keep a single temple sacrifice?  Simple answers are not always the best.  They can trivialize complex situations.  Hashem’s laws were created for a community to follow.  In ancient times, those that did not would have been subject to the legal ramifications of their disobedience.  Can you imagine then the chaos that would have ensued if everyone felt entitled to interpret it on their own, without regard for the rest of the community?  Imagine, you’re in ancient Israel. You and your neighbors step outside and there it is: the new moon!

But wait! Bob says it’s based off of the conjunction, Jim says the crescent, Greg says he saw it yesterday, and Ol’ Blind Tony hasn’t kept a feast since he lost his eyesight.

Anyone who has discussed calendar issues with a diverse group will recognize that this is only a small exaggeration. If we all do as we see fit without regards to our neighbors how long until there is no community left? I’m not advocating that anyone go against their conscience. But the law is not an all or nothing game. If it were, there would be no Passover services now that the temple has been destroyed. Rather, we all have to do the best we can in an imperfect world. I think this goal is best served not in isolation, but in conjunction with the people called “the keepers of the oracles of G-d.”

I looked up, and replied, “Oh, that’s a bird.’

My son repeated, ‘Bird.’

I felt really good; I’m an adult teaching him how to see the world and how to say the word ‘bird.’

Then all of a sudden, another bird went flying by. My son said ‘Oh, Abba, ze.’

I replied, ‘That’s also a bird.’

I could see in my son’s eyes the confusion. How could they both be birds? They were so different.

Yuu see what happens – we get used to experiencing reality by labeling everything. We cease seeing this amazing, unique, flying creature; we just slap a lable onto it -’bird.’ we become existential file clerks. We don’t care what the document says, we just care about where to file it. That creature goes under ‘bird.’ Finished. We stop seeing the indescribable ‘that.’ “

-Rabbi David Aaron, excerpted from ‘Seeing God’

Sometimes I feel as though, in all our theological discussing, arguing, and labeling, we forget religion isn’t simply about understanding Hashem.  It’s about experiencing Hashem through out our lives.

Reason is an incredibly important and useful tool for interpreting what we experience. It’s not the experience itself.

Gentiles like myself often suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. Upon realizing that the bulk of scripture is written to Israel, and concluding that Israel and the Church are not interchangeable terms, we find ourselves needing to find our place in His plan. Replacement theology is one answer, but many of us find that it falls short. We want to BE Israel. To stand side by side with Judah as one of them, while clinging to the truth of Messiah.

Thus enters Two House theory, and my reason for removing myself from it. Two House theory says that those drawn to the Jewish people and to an identity with them, are the Lost House. The lack of genealogical proof, is simply used to show the miraculous nature of them being drawn. In short, anyone that wants to be Israel, already is. As I said, convenient.

I have always been suspect of believing things simply because they reaffirm what I want to be true. I’ve seen this manifest in how the laws are observed (Anything I already desire to keep is good, anything I don’t is legalism). For me to say that I am Israel, with no proof other than that I want to be is to say it with no proof at all.

Many people claim a gender other than the one they actually possess, because they desire it. Were I to say I was a dog because I like to bury bones, people would think I was nuts. I don’t say these things to offend Two House people, but to explain what I see as flaws in this kind of thinking.

Still, even in light of this, there is a mountain of scriptural evidence for a Lost House of Israel, and it is not possible to prove that those that feel the draw aren’t a part of that. That brings me to the point of my third post and ultimately the reason I’ve dropped the theory: Does it really matter?

After being exposed to it, it has become easy to find it spelled out nearly anywhere I look within scripture.  Although I no longer identify with this theory, I cannot find fault with it on scriptural grounds.  That in itself does not make it correct, but it does lead me to feel that both the theory and the people who support it should be given more than the quick brush off that I’m used to seeing.

In this first entry, I will try to show the biblical support for the theory.  I warn you that this post is long and thick with scripture.  I’m still learning how to effectively post, so any formatting advice is appreciated.

1Kings

11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 11:12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 11:13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

The scripture quoted above shows Hashem’s plan to remove Israel from Solomon’s son, leaving him only with the tribe of Judah. This next scripture reiterates it in Hashem’s promise to Jeroboam.

11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: 11:32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

Solomon’s son Rehoboam lost most of the kingdom, save for Judah, to Jeroboam as Hashem had promised. At this point in history we now have two kingdoms ruled by two kings, where we used to have only one. The kingdom called Judah was ruled by Rehoboam, and the kingdom called Israel was ruled by Jeroboam. Jeroboam feared that if the people continued worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem, they would start to miss Davidic rule. In order to prevent civil war, he made idols and instituted his own priests. Because of this, Hashem took the kingdom from Jeroboam.

14:7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, 14:8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do only right in mine eyes; 14:9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 14:10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

After this, the kings of Israel continued in quick succession, most of them worse than the previous. This almost continual degradation of Israel led to Hashem handing them over to the Assyrians.

2Kings

17:5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Judah’s succession of kings was generally much better.  While Israel’s kings were constantly compared to their predecessors in their wickedness, Judah’s were often compared to theirs in righteousness, with some compared to David himself.  However Judah also sinned and eventually found themselves handed over to a fate similar to Israel’s.

23:27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

When Israel was taken by Assyria, they assimilated into the cultures around them, completely destroyed as a nation. the kingdom of Judah however remained a distinct people while exiled in Babylon.

At this point, Two House proponents begin looking at prophecy to support their case.

Hosea

1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. 1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. 1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. 1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. 1:8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. 1:9 Then said [God], Call his name Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God]. 1:10 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of Jezreel. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God.

This confirms that Hashem had mercy on the kingdom of Judah, keeping them as a people, and that the kingdom of Israel was destroyed. However, it also says that Israel will somehow be restored, and that the two houses (hence the name) will once again join together under one king.  This is reiterated in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel

37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, 37:2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. 37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 37:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Who are the dry bones?

37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 37:13 And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD.

Hashem is saying that he will restore the whole house if Israel, including the lost, to the land of promise.

37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 37:20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all

In Romans 12, Paul describes our lives as living sacrifices.  He gives us many different examples of not simply fighting evil with good, but ignoring the evil act completely while performing acts of kindness.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

What I think may be missed in the reading is a practical reason for doing this.  Yes we are to have the mind and heart of Messiah and be good representatives of Hashem on earth.  But there is also a practical healing application.

21 do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That verse for me is what the entire chapter boils down to.  Every smile, every dismissal of offense, every act of chessed, increases the sum total of Good in the world by a little bit.

Think of it as a business transaction.  A business will create a product and sell it at higher than cost.  The consumer will then purchase this product.  If the transaction was honest, both parties come away with added value.  The business received the customers’ money and profits, while the customer received a product that was worth more to him than the money.  This is the process of creating wealth.

Acts of kindness work the same way.  The cost to produce an act of kindness is your pride.  If you, as Paul says and “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,” then the personal cost to you will be far less than the market value of your kindness.  What this means is that the margin of spiritual profit for even a small act of kindness is huge.  And because of the low cost, we don’t have to be stingy.  We can invest our kindness everywhere.  Most importantly, every act of chessed you perform will increase both the spiritual wealth of you and your customer.  I think that bears repeating.

Every act of chessed you perform will increase both the spiritual wealth of you and your customer.

Evil is not some incredible force in the world, though its effects are devastating.  Like poverty describes an absence of physical wealth, evil describes an absence of spiritual wealth.  You cannot combat poverty with more poverty, and you cannot combat evil with evil.  If you find yourself leaning toward making a nasty comment, think of it as a spiritual bank statement and consider investing in a kindness generating market.  It’s no accident that Paul talks about the Fruits of the Spirit.  While we often use fruit to describe the effect of our labors, it’s also the cause.  No tree was ever created without a seed, nor was there ever a business created without capital.  By planting whatever small spiritual seeds we have now, we don’t lose them, we insure an abundance.  By investing wealth in a growing economy, we create more wealth.

By providing acts of kindness, we improve both ourselves and the world around us.  Just think.  If you improve, even a little, the mood of just one person, how much better will the lives of those he touches be?  And what about the lives the touched touch.  With just one act of chessed you literally change the world.

This is the post I’ve created to get rid of the “page not found” error. Hopefully I’ll have some actual content soon.