Yesterday I had an interesting experience. I almost hesitate to share it, because of the ugliness in me that it reveals. My hope is that in sharing it, others can repent before having to have an experience like this.
During our pre-service prayer, a young man walked in our church with a beard and tzitzit. (You have to understand that this is not common in our congregation. We are a Messianic church in its infancy. Besides myself, only one other man wears the tzitzit.) I was excited to see someone else walk in that obeys the Torah in this way, but I was also disappointed because they were Karaite tzitzit. Aside from a brief introduction, I didn’t get a chance to talk to this man until after the service.
I was astonished by what I found when I did get to talk to him. This man had/has such a passion for the things of God. Although our conversation was very brief, I was so impressed by his willingness to follow God, regardless of personal cost.
Next month, he’s leaving for the United Arab Emirates for two years. It is something that God has put on his heart from the time of his youth, and he’s now leaving all that he knows, all of his comforts, and moving to the other side of the world in the hopes that the light of Messiah will shine through him.
Amazingly, we didn’t spend one second talking about halacha or the like. I don’t know whether or not he truly is of a Karaite bent or not, but that really doesn’t matter. Our conversation was saturated with a common love for the Father and a desire to do His will.
When will we (I) get over the minor things of the Torah and focus on the things that truly matter to the heart of God? When will we see that there is a dying world that needs us to truly be salt and light, but instead we argue over the authority of the rabbi’s?
I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I do know this: I was and am very challenged by the thoughts of my heart toward my brother, all because of the style of tzitzit that he wore.
Aaron, not to derail the topic, but what would you do if a woman came in wearing tzittzit ?
Just curious to hear your thoughts.
Tanja
Tanja,
In all honesty, I’m not entirely sure what my reaction would be. I am undecided about that right now. On the one hand, if one of my sisters in the Messiah is truly trying to follow the Torah, who am I to stand in her way. On the other hand, I’m not totally convinced that the text in Numbers 15 is gender inclusive.
I hope this helps.
Shalom,
Aaron
Shalom!
What do Karaite tzitzit look like?
Pierre,
Here is a link to what Karaite tzitzit look like.
http://www.karaite-korner.org/tzitzit.shtml
Personally, I like how they look, but I’m not crazy for what Karaites (as a general rule) stand for.
Shalom,
aaron
“…but I’m not crazy for what Karaites (as a general rule) stand for.”
Well, if I were Messianic I would feel the same. It was a Qaraite after all who authored what’s probably the most classic Christianity debunking tome of all times, Faith Strengthened.
Please could you that man in touch with me. I know it has been two years but I would apreciate it very much. Thank you.
Daniel,
If you’re referring to the name of the person about whom I wrote, in all honesty, I don’t know his name. All that I remember is that shortly after I met him, he was headed to the UAE to share the good news of our Messiah.
Shalom!
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
The man who wrote ‘Faith Strengthened’ is actually dead. He wrote it either in the late 1800′s or the early 1900′s, I believe.
There is another book, written from a Messianic Jewish perspective, called ‘True Faith Strengthened’. That book all but disappeared for about 100 years. There is now a concerted effort to translate and reprint that book.
The author of that book actually found all of the arguments against Yeshua being the Messiah to be rather shallow and easily countered. I, however, do not claim to know half as much as that man and do not know all the answers to the points presented in ‘Faith Strengthened’.
The book should be available from FFOZ before too long. You can keep an eye on their website for its availability: http://ffoz.org/resources/index_upcoming.html
Cheers,
-Mark
I don’t know why you should have felt offended by the Karaite Tzitzits. THey only follow what is written in Numbers 15. There must be at least one strand of blue. And do you want to know why? Because God knew that men would place tzitzits on the corners of their clothing and rather than say I do it to mark myself as a believer in the Lord he would start to say, see my tzitzits I am a more pious man than you. So the one blue strand (or fewer than the white strands) is to remind us of Shemayim, where God watches us from. And it says as holy as you think you might be, my single blue strand is far holier than all your white strands put together. It is to remind us of humility. Oh, and by the way, the book you’re referring to is the Hazak Armanah. My copy passed down through the family is from 1675 but trust me, though it may portray Jeshua in a better light he is no more than another teacher preparing the way for the coming of the twin messiahs. Oh, yes, I am Karaite.
I know this is an old post by you but in the event you are keeping up with coments I wanted to post.
I stopped wearing tzit tzit a few years ago because God checked my heart on the issues of rabbinics. Over the past few years I have been “getting away” from all things rabbinic… Including tzit tzit. Not the wearing of them but the tying of them. I don’t want to put them on accoring to rabbibc teaching as I feel that there is no place in true faith in Torah and Yeshua for this. That being said I can’t find a use for modern rabbinic teaching unless all you want to do is descus or argue about these things. My heart is to do what the bible says about we are to live. I used to judge others based firstly of what I know of rabbinics. Now I live in a comunity that is very much driven by rabbinics but I am now on the other side of the fence. I feel that as a fallower of Yeshua and one that wants to live as scripter, not rabbinic teaching says I have a hard time fallowing much of the teaching and life style of many of my longtime friends. I feel freed on one hand while taking on a new berdon of living the way God wants me to. I want to wear tzit tzit but want to do this as God intended not some kobalistic, man made perscrition.
Thank you for your post.
Dear Josh, what is most important is that you follow your heart. When Anan ben David made his comment of reading the Torah and finding what is true for you, he then reminded everyone that the interpretation would be correct. It was only the adding of things to the Torah and putting words in God’s mouth that he objected to. So you will find many Karaites having similar but not necessarily identical beliefs. The same way I have my own thinking on Yeshua, as the man he was, but no matter how you examine it, he was no more than a man. A good man, possibly a great man because his teachings are still alive 2000 years later, but no more and no less than a man. But God only wants from us to be righteous, honourable and striving to achieve some good beyond other man. In that respect Yeshua would have met His request. We should try to do the same no matter how our beliefs might differ.
I’m a late comer here! I’m also a karaite. Here’s a question…what type of tzitzit you were wearing at the time? Do you have a particular tying method of your own or were you wearing traditional orthodox/rabbinic style?
If you wear the traditional rabbinic style, it associates you with rabbinic community, (not the messianic community) where the karaite style of tzitzit would associate you with Karaites. In fact, you are neither rabbinic nor karaite…so why were you disappointed?