Thank you for entering my page! Right now, you are probably searching to find out more about Jewish beliefs in Jesus. Perhaps, you are questioning your faith, and are looking at different options. Are you in the Houston area and interested in Messianic Judaism? Curious about the possibilities? Beth HaShem is a Houston-area Messianic Jewish group led by Larry Deutsch. There is one major problem; Beth HaShem is not a Jewish group, but a Christian group. They are Southern Baptists, to be exact. This web-site will prove that they are a Christian group, using information from their site and other web-sites. Each time, links will be provided so that you can see the evidence with your own eyes.
Southern Baptist Mother Beth HaShem claims to be a Jewish congregation. However, Beth HaShem is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention-no real Jewish synagogue would ever be a member of that organization! Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here Not only is Baruch Ha'Shem part of the Southern Baptist Convention, but its "Rabbi", Larry Deutsch, is listed in the Southern Baptist MinisterSearch. Here is the link to Deutsch:
Click Here A real Jewish rabbi would never be listed in the Southern Baptist database-only a Christian minister would be listed! Clearly, Beth HaShem is a missionary arm of the Southern Baptist Convention! "Rabbi" Larry Deutsch's own biography also shows that he is not a real Jewish leader, but a Christian leader. Deutsch starts his biography stating that his parents were Conservative Jews and he was "trained by Orthodox rabbis." Let's be really clear here; Deutsch does not hold a rabbinical degree and his "training" appears to be nothing beyond a Jewish Sunday School. The errors he makes regarding basic Judaism and Hebrew are almost painful to read; I will review some of these errors shortly. However, in his biography he also states: Rabbi Deutsch subsequently graduated Christian seminary.
He was licensed and ordained in the state of Texas.
He spent several years in a church planting ministry.
Rabbi Deutsch recieved his Doctorate of Religious Education from the Moody Bible Institute.
He pastored a Houston congregation for over a decade." From his biography, we can see that "Rabbi" Deutsch is actually Reverend Deutsch, who is an ordained Christian minister who has worked at planting churches. This is obviously not the resume of a real Jewish leader. He is simply a Christian minister. Here is the link to his biography so you can see the proof with your own eyes:
Click Here Now, if you look at the Beth HaShem Statement of Faith that follows Deutsch's resume, you can see some of the evidence that Deutsch does not understand basic Judaism. If you look at the second bullet, you will see that Jesus is referred to as being "Maschiach ben Yosef" (which means "Messiah son of Joseph"), "Mashiach ben David" (which means "Messiah son of David"), and also being born from Mary who "did not know a man". The first problem is that when a Jew says "son of such and such", they are referring to the family lineage of the child, which is traced solely through the birth father. If Jesus is the "son of G-d" from a woman who "did not know a man", he cannot also have a birth father from the House of David and from the House of Joseph. Either Jesus' birth father was G-d or a man from the House of David, or a man from the House of Joseph-no person can have multiple birth fathers. Mary's lineage from the House of David is of no importance since the mother does not give family lineage. This is really basic Jewish Biblical geneology. Moreover, Beth HaShem mixes up two concepts, namely the idea of Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yosef. Mashiach ben David is the Messiah that we commonly speak of; the Messiah whose birth father will be through the lineage of King David, specifically through King Solomon. Mashiach ben Yosef is believed to be man who will help Mashiach ben David. Mashiach ben Yosef was named by the rabbis as "ben Yosef" because he will be descended from the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of Yosef's (Joseph's) sons in the Bible, hence the term "ben Yosef". So, Mashiach ben Yosef is from the Tribe of Ephraim, and Mashiach ben David is from the Tribe of Judah (David was part of the Tribe of Judah). Again, you cannot be both "ben Yosef" and "ben David" (of the birth father lineage from the Tribe of Judah and Tribe of Ephraim) unless you have two birth fathers, which is obviously impossible. But, Beth HaShem makes more basic Biblical errors. If you look at the 6th bullet, Beth HaShem claims that the "ONLY" way of getting atonement is through repentance and blood atonement. This is completely against the Bible. First off, if one looks through the atonement sacrifice in Leviticus chapters 4 & 5, the sacrificial items can only be cows, sheep, goats, birds and flour. Human sacrifice cannot be used in the atonement sacrifice, and flour is obviously an example of an atonement sacrifice that has no blood in it. Further, the Bible also lists numerous other methods of atonement that do not involve sacrifice, such as charity and doing good deads. Here is a brief essay on some of the other Biblically-sanctioned methods of atonement:
Click Here Not surprisingly, Beth HaShem's Statement of Faith is a slighlty modified version of the Southern Baptist Conventions' Faith & Message. Both attempt to quote the Jewish Bible to support themselves, however, they make numerous errors in their use of the Bible. If you go to my "Great Sites, Pricesless Information" section, you will find multiple sites that show the major errors that Beth HaShem and the Southern Baptist Convention both make. Here are the links to Beth HaShem's Statement of Faith and The Baptist Faith & Message, again, you will note that they are virtually identical:
Beth HaShem
Southern Baptist Convention
The Name A name tells us a lot about an organization. "Joe's Ice Cream Shop" tells the visitor that the store sells ice cream. Beth Ha'Shem's name tells the reader that the congregation does not understand Hebrew. The word "HaShem" (Editor's Note: I have never seen any Jewish group use the apostrophe between the Ha and Shem, all Jewish groups spell the word "Hashem" or "HaShem") is a substitue word. It is a word you use in substitution of the word "G-d", so as not to accidentally use G-d's name in vain. However, you would never name an object or person with a substitute word. Allow me to explain with an analogy. We usually refer to our parents as "Mom" and "Dad", out of respect for them. It would be disrepectful for us to call our parents by their first names (e.g. Joe and Barbara). "Mom" and "Dad" are substitute words, just like "HaShem". Now then, let's say a person would want to name a building after their parents. The situation has suddenly changed. In this situation, you would use the parents actual names, say, "The John and Barbara Smith Tower". No one would use the substitute words when naming the building, and have the building named "The Mom and Dad Tower". By using the word "HaShem" in their name, the congregation has done the equivalent of placing the word "Mom" or "Dad" in their name. These issues are clear to someone who is familiar with Judaism and Hebrew, which is why a real Jewish congregation would not make such blatant errors. This is why no real Jewish congregations use the word "HaShem" in their name. Only a non-Jewish group could make such errors, and in such an obvious place as their name.
Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Outreach Judaism Counter Missionary Reference Torah Atlanta Messianic Verses in Tanach Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
| 