Israel ben Betzalel

An Open Letter to Rev. Gary Sims, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC):

It has come to our attention that Messianic Jews in ODRC as reported in the Mansfield News Journal are being denied the right of access to kosher foods when all other Jews are granted access to kosher foods. This is appalling, since Messianic Jews are those who keep the Covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as written by Moses in the Torah. This includes keeping a kosher diet. One who breaks the commandments concerning clean and unclean foods, commits sin, since it is a transgression against the literal commandment of God as it is written:

Leviticus 11:43-44
43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.
44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.

Due to a misinformed understanding of Torah-observant Messianic Judaism, it appears the opposite stance was taken after some “Messianic rabbis” were consulted concerning the requirements for diet for Messianic Jews within ORDC. The scripture above should be absolutely clear that Messianic Jews who profess obedience to the Torah, are required by God to “not defile yourselves by any of these creatures” as outlined in the entire chapter of Leviticus 11.

The issue is not whether or not Messianic Jews are Jews for purpose of ODRC dietary classifications - although the majority of Messianic Jews consider themselves fully Jewish, and we at the Jerusalem Council, and other organizations would be more than happy to make the case for such a classification; however the issue is that Messianic Jews who believe they are responsible for keeping the commandments of God in the Torah, should be allowed to do so within any fair application of dietary menus provided by ODRC if others enjoy that same privilege. The issue is over the fact that some prisoners within ORDC are in fact privileged to exercise their obedience to God in the matter of keeping kosher, by claiming to be Jewish, and believing Jesus is not the Messiah; whereas those who desire to keep the commandments of God concerning diet, who believe Jesus is the Messiah, should be allowed the same treatment.

If you want the theological reasons for keeping kosher as a beliver in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, please feel free to contact us and we will be more than happy to provide all the material you need in making a fair decision, but we will be happy to share one here:

Revelation 14:12
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

Please register this compliant with the appropriate authorities within ODRC, and please reconsider allowing Messianic Jews who profess obedience to the Torah as a way of obedience to God, the means to meet their convictions concerning the matter, and thus end this unfair religious discrimination against Messianic Jewish prisoners within ODRC.

Signed,

Israel ben-Betzalel
Messianic Jewish Apologist
JerusalemCouncil.org

and the global Torah-observant Messianic Jewish community

Numbers 23:10

Who counted the dust of Jacob or the number of a fourth of [or, of the seed of] Israel? May my soul die the death of the upright and let my end be like his.

The seed, can be taken as a remez back to the Seed of the Woman, the Promised Seed. The “fourth” can be taken as a remez back to the stone that Jacob anointed with oil and wine (the Messiah) since it was from four stones that that stone was made echad:

Gen 28:18

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

Since this establishes that the Torah is talking about the Messiah here in Numbers 23:10, and in Gen 28:18 (since Messiah means “anointed”), then the Torah clearly teaches that the Messiah is “upright” and that he will “die the death of the upright” and his “end” is to live forever.

from: http://jerusalemcouncil.org/midrash/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=474