Thursday, September 17, 2015

WHY "YESHUA HA MASHIACH"?



"Jesus Christ" or "Yeshua Ha Mashiach"? by Return to God.
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WHY "YESHUA HA MASHIACH"?
Today in English our Lord is commonly referred to as "Jesus Christ", as
if "Jesus" was His first name and "Christ" was His last name. In
actuality, His name in Hebrew and Aramaic (the languages He spoke) was
"Yeshua", which means salvation. During His life on earth, He was called
"Yeshua".

At the time Yeshua lived on earth, kings were given their authority in
ceremonies where they were anointed with olive oil. Yeshua was known as
the "Mashiach" (Messiah) or The Anointed One having been anointed with
God's authority. Thus He was known as "Yeshua Ha Mashiach", or Yeshua
the Anointed One.

THEN WHY "JESUS CHRIST"?
In Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, "Yeshua" was translated as
"Iesous" which was probably pronounced "yay-soos" in ancient Greek and
is pronounced "yee-soos" in modern Greek. The word "Jesus" then came
from an English translation of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.

The word for "Mashiach" in Greek is "Christos" meaning anointed. This
word is usually brought into English as "Christ".

Unfortunately, through these translations we've lost the true meaning of
our Lord's name.

For more information, contact Return to God, P.O. Box 159, Carnation,
WA 98014-0159; (206)333-4177; email: glenna@halcyon.com.

What.... Rosh Hashanah

Pre-Rosh Hashanah
A key component of Rosh Hashanah preparation is to ask for forgiveness from anyone we may have wronged during the previous year. To the greatest extent possible, we want to begin the year with a clean slate – and without anyone harboring a grudge against us. Similarly, we should be quick to forgive those who have wronged us.

Many people have the custom of going to the mikveh before Rosh Hashanah after midday. A mikveh, which has the power to purify from certain types of spiritual impurities, can be an important part of the teshuva process.

Some have the custom of visiting a cemetery on the day before Rosh Hashanah and praying at the graves of the righteous. Of course, we do not pray "to" the righteous, but only to God who hears our prayers in the merit of the righteous.
The morning before Rosh Hashanah, we perform "Hatarat Nedarim" – annulling of vows. In Torah terms, saying something as simple as "I refuse to eat candy" can be considered a legal vow. Therefore, before Rosh Hashanah, we annul any vows, whether made intentionally or not. This is done by standing in front of three adult males and asking to be released from one’s vows. The full text can be found in a Siddur or Rosh Hashanah Machzor.