Comment
If I Were the Mashiyah
Two years ago, at the height of the American invasion to
Iraq, the Wall Street Journal printed a front page article
on Naim Dangoor and "his dream of returning to Iraq
in glory as the reinstated Exilarch". The article captured
the imagination of many readers in America, so that one
Jewish newspaper in New York phoned Mr. Dangoor to ask him
if he was the Mashiyah.
Naim Dangoor writes:
I was sorry to reply that in fact I was not the Mashiyah,
for ever since I have been thinking what I would want to
do if I were.
Jewish tradition allows a number of minor duties for the
Mashiyah to do such as where to place Elijah's wine cup
at the Passover seder and such other matters.
If I were the Mashiyah I would:
First, abolish the major festivals of Passover and Succoth
as reminiscent of slavery in Egypt and out of date. Shavouth,
although originally a pastoral festival, can be retained
as it has become associated with the giving of the Torah.
I would abolish Purim and Hanukkah as irrelevant.
Secondly I would abolish all minor fasts days: Fast of Gdalia,
Fast of Tebet, Fast of Esther, Fast of Tamuz, Fast of Ab
and Fast of the First Born.
Thirdly, I would abolish the lunar calendar as out of date.
Most people now days live in towns and cities. Our main
contact is the sun. It would be necessary that our solar
month coincide to the Gregorian list to be uniform. Luckily
Sunday 1st January 2006 corresponds to 1 Tebet 5766.
The 12 months of the year become:
Tishri
Hashvan
Kislev
Tebet
Shabat
Adar
Nisan
Iyar
Sivan
Tamuz
Ab
Elul
|
October
November
December
January
Fubruary
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
|
Tishrin 1
Tishrin 2
Kanun 1
Kanun 2
Shbat
Adar
Nisan
Mayis
Huzairan
Tamuz
Ab
Elul
|
The Jewish new year remains 1 Tishri = 1 October and a
reformed Kippur to follow. The main purpose of the Mashiyah
is to bring peace on earth by uniting mankind.
I first thought of saying that all those who believe in
God should be regarded as equal regardless of their other
beliefs. But the idea of God is vague and elusive. A better
idea to unite mankind is to say all those who keep a seven
day week and rest on the seventh day should be regarded
as equal in every aspect. They can inter-marry, depending
on personal choice. There should be a variety of marriage
contracts to choose from. Judaism in its new form becomes
a universal religion which may appeal to the undecided half
of mankind.
Recently my son asked me what I thought of a party in Israel
that calls itself "Jews who don't believe in God".
I replied that the First Commandment states, "I am
the lord your God… ". It does not say that you
have to believe in me. God is great whether we believe in
Him or not. His existence does not depend on our vote. The
position becomes clear in the rest of the Commandment which
states: "You must not have other gods besides me…"
Thus the main purpose of monotheism in general and Judaism
in particular is not to enforce the worship of The One True
God, but to eradicate idol worship. The third commandment
states that God will not tolerate someone who honours other
gods besides the Lord. No punishment or threat attaches
to those who ignore the first commandment, but God will
reward those who believe in him. People should be left to
find their own way to God, and I would encourage the creation
of any number of denominations to that end.
Creation day- morning to morning and not evening to evening
as is erroneously rendered in translation. Calendar day-
midnight to midnight which is always 24 hours, all the year
round and everywhere.
Religious day- 6 pm to 6pm local time, which is a sensible
and practical rendering of the Command- From evening to
evening you shall celebrate your Holy days.
Kippur fast: 6 am to 6pm
From 1st Tebet we follow Gregorian calendar but we continue
to campaign for changing to 30 days- February, March and
August
Spring Festival: 17 April
The Dome of the Rock to be opened to all.
Jerusalem to be established as the holy centre for all mankind.
World Government- There should be a gradual build-up of
a world government based on countries gradually sponsoring
this policy.
Adam invented agriculture and started our present civilisation.
Noah domesticated the animals.
Abraham proclaimed the Kingdom of God
Moses, Jesus and Mohammad established the Kingdom of God.
These were God's missionaries.
My granddaughter Sarah was taught that the Mashiyah comes
when all Jews observe the Sabbath day. Now all mankind remembers
and observes the seventh day. The Mashiyah is here.
The chosen people have suffered for God the wickedness of
mankind.
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