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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

By Boaz Michael | Comments (0) | Posted on September 6, 2005

The believing Torah movement is still polarizing to one extreme or the other.

In the last issue of messiah magazine (Issue 86), we offered some thoughts on the role of Jewish tradition in keeping Torah. Our reason for doing so was that we have observed a growing tendency among believers to utterly distance themselves from Jewish tradition—even to the point of demonizing it. Believers are redefining the commandments of the Torah in complete antithesis to any form of tradition. It's not healthy. It is a carryover from the Church supersessionist mindset. It is arrogant at best, anti-Semitic at worst.

While on the road, though, I've encountered a few people who misunderstood the intent behind the last issue. They supposed that we were advocating total submission to Orthodox Jewish halachic standards. Of course, that is not our position, and it never has been. At FFOZ, we will always push the envelope of Torah observance, but we do not believe in blindly following tradition without thinking, reassessing and occasionally discarding. What we are saying is that, as a part of the greater people of Israel, we need to demonstrate respect and continuity within the historical framework of Judaism. We need to consider our connectedness to the Jewish people. If we are to apply the Torah to our lives appropriately, we need to look at the wisdom behind how the faith has developed historically.

But that's not the same as suggesting that we need to take on the full gamut of tradition and halachah. That's the other extreme of the movement. At FFOZ, we are squarely in the middle of those two positions, and we encourage you walk this fine line with us. We don't throw out Jewish tradition, but neither do we regard it as the final authority.

When I paged back through the last magazine, I could see where people might get the idea that we were going totally Orthodox. As always, the articles were carefully balanced, presenting both sides of the issue, and pointing toward Messiah as our final standard. The photo illustrations may have suggested a bent toward Orthodox Judaism. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, the regular messiah magazine pictures of Orthodox Jews in prayer and study might suggest that Orthodoxy is the goal to which we are pointing. That's not the case.

The reality is that it's hard to come up with professional illustrations for Torah-based articles. Since photographs of Orthodox Jews are the most readily available images of people doing Torah, that's how the magazine tends to come together. But in a sense, it could misrepresent FFOZ and the Torah movement. That's how you can help. If you are an artist or a photographer, consider volunteering some of your work for messiah magazine. We need pictures of people in the Torah movement today.

Pictures of families, pictures of congregations, pictures of celebrations, festivals, worship services, Torah classes, children in the movement, bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings�you get the idea. Just be sure to get people�s permission before sending us their photo. If you are a talented illustrator or artist, we could really use your help. Visit our website, and fill out a volunteer application, or contact us at FEEDBACK

About the Author: Boaz Michael is the president and founder of First Fruits of Zion.

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

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