Roots of Faith, Inc., was officially incorporated as a Non-Profit Charitable Corporation on April 5th, 2010, pursuant to the Louisiana Non-Profit Corporation Act of the State of Louisiana. Excerpts from our Constitution and By-Laws: Article I. Name, Standard, and Greeting Section 1.  The name of the Association shall be ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. Section 2.  The Standard of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. shall be:  “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all Peoples.” Section 3.  The official greeting of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. is:  Shalom, namely, Peace. Article II. Places of Activities Section 1.  The activities of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. will be conducted principally in the State of Louisiana, but also in all the other States of the United States of America and in foreign countries. Article III. Objects and Purposes Section 1.  The objects and purposes of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. are:  (a) To inspire people to live a more Biblically authentic lifestyle by inculcating original biblical truths through published material and public teaching. (b) To affirm the truths of the Hebrew Scriptures. (c) To understand and interpret earliest Christianity from its original and thoroughly Hebraic perspective. (d) To study, learn, practice and preach original biblical truths in all their simplicity. (e) To provide a place of meeting for anyone that believes in the One God of Israel and seeks to live according to the principles of the Hebrew Bible. (f) To appoint spiritual leaders for the various UNITS of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. (g) To advance and advocate Social Justice based upon Biblical Principles. Section 2.  ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. further proposes on the basis of the Biblical injunction:  “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all Peoples,” and further on the basis of the words: “Whosoever shall call on the Name of Jehovah shall be saved,” to be as universal in creed and outlook as the Bible itself is; wherefore ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. will function as a non-political, non-denominational, non-sectarian, non-profit, religious membership corporation. Section 3.  ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc. intends to publish its teaching material using all manner of outreach available – allowing its members multiple ways to take part in learning. This will include, but not be limited to Audio (radio and internet podcasts) and Video (television, internet videos), and all forms of written materials; books, publications etc. Section 4.  ROOTS OF FAITH intends to maintain a web site which is to serve as the main organ of the corporation and the chief medium of unification for all members and units of ROOTS OF FAITH, Inc.  It will contain important Bible data and messages of current interest.

We are using technology to spread the Torah Faith message across the globe. Our weekly classes are broadcasted over the web every Saturday morning via www.shma.tv. Participants can watch our morning service and engage with others from around the globe through the chat feature. This has enhanced the dialogue portion of our service and is becoming more popular every week as is evidenced by the increased number of attendees. My teachings of the weekly Torah portions are posted on iTunes as well as on my main website (www.rootsoffaith.org) and are available for download at no charge.

We continue to broadcast on special occasions such as Holy Days to provide those that are interested with a place to go to celebrate these appointed times. I will be sending out more information on our plans for the High Holy Days soon.

We recently added interactive Hebrew classes on the Synagogue Without Walls site. Johnny Powell, my own Hebrew teacher is leading these classes. He already has several students, and has made it clear that all are welcome regardless of their skill level in Hebrew. If you have ever wanted to learn Hebrew, now is an excellent opportunity. All one has to do is join the “Learning Torah Hebrew” group on SWW. Class is every Wednesday night at9:00 PM EST. We are still working to improve the class. We currently utilize the chat feature on the SWW site and last week we added a SKYPE feature to allow students to hear one another as well as the teacher. We will continue to get better as we experiment with various options.

I have set up Facebook pages for the Synagogue Without Walls as well as Roots of Faith and I encourage you to follow us there. You can also find me on Facebook as well as Twitter. I am making every effort to reach the masses through the social media and these popular sites provide us with an excellent outreach platform to spread Torah Faith. I encourage you to find and follow us and join us in our work.

We do not charge for any of our teachings or features. The work is fully supported through the prayers, efforts and faithful voluntary contributions of those who believe in what we are doing. The goal is to work on continuous improvement at every turn – doing the best we can with what we have. As we have more, we seek to do more. So far, as our costs have gone up, the contributions have met the challenge.

If you are able to contribute, we have several ways to do so. We have set up “donate” buttons on our sites. These allow you to donate whatever amount you wish.

We have several bills that are due every month and here are some examples in case you want to specify where your contribution goes. Some may wish to make a contribution to cover one or more of these expenses.

1 month of internet at the Synagogue – $65
1 month of usage for the SWW site – $50
1 month for our Livestream channel – $350

Recently it was requested that we set something up to allow people to subscribe for recurring donations through PayPal. This is now active and is a good way to help us on a regular basis without the hassle. Those desiring to set up to contribute have options here as well. One way is to select a set amount per month ($15, $20, etc) from the drop down menu.

The other choice is for those who follow the custom of donating in increments of 18. This custom is based upon the idea that the Hebrew word chai (life) has a numeric value of 18. Some choose to donate in increments of 18, thus symbolically sending our outreach efforts “life” in that your financial help literally brings life to others.

Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated and your help in this matter allows us to continue to provide our teachings at no charge to any who wish to receive them and also provides us with the necessary funding to maintain and improve our features.

You can send check or money order to us at the following address:

Roots of Faith
PO Box 695
Saint Francisville, La. 70775

Or on-line at www.rootsoffaith.org/support

Thanks for you prayers and continued support and interest in Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls!

Shalom, Ross

My local newspaper’s Religious section just put in a request for response to some key questions about Christianity. I was encouraged by a friend to send them my answers, but I fear that my answer may be more than they have room to print so I will post my article here on my blog.

Here are those questions:

• What does it mean to be a Christian?
• Can one follow Christ and not be a Christian?
• Does a Christian have to support everything the Church teaches and does?

The word Christian occurs 3 times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28 and I Peter 4:16). It comes from the Greek khris-tee-an-os, which in turn comes from khris-tos and means “anointed”.  So Khrist-tos, or Christ originally meant the Anointed One and a Khris-tee-an-os or Christian was a follower of Khris-tos or the Anointed One (i.e., Christ). But if this all seems like Greek to you…. think again, because these ideas are Hebraic in origin and NOT Greek!

The origin of these Greek terms is to be found in the Hebrew verb mashach (to rub or smear with oil). Many have lost the original understanding of the term and think of Christ as a title or even a name for Jesus of Nazareth, but according to the original and thoroughly Biblical concept of anointing, there have been many “anointed ones” throughout the ages, each with a special purpose or task. The ancient anointing oil and its application, set an object or person apart (consecrating them) for a special purpose or task. See for instance Exodus 30:22-33. The priests were anointed (Exodus 28:41; 29:7; 40:15 & Psalm 133), as were Israel’s Kings (1 Kings 1:34-39; I Samuel 10:1, 16:13, 24:6). The Patriarchs are referred to as “anointed ones” in Psalm 105:13-15 and even the Gentile Persian King Cyrus is an “anointed one” according to Isaiah 45:1. The Hebrew equivalent to the Greek Christ is Messiah or mashiach in Hebrew (based upon the Hebrew verb mashach).  Thus, Biblically speaking, the examples above can technically be called “messiahs”.

Apart from the many “messiahs” of the Hebrew Scriptures, a picture of a future eschatological figure began to emerge from the Hebrew prophets. This coming figure was believed to be “The” Messiah – a son of the famed King David who would usher in a golden age often referred to as the Messianic age. He is sometimes assisted by a priestly figure (see for instance Zechariah 6:9-12). Opinions from antiquity were varied. Would there be one or two messiahs? The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed that these questions were being discussed in the Second Temple period. The Qumran community favored an interpretation and an end time scenario involving two messiahs; one a priest and the other a king.

With this background in mind one can’t avoid noticing that John the Baptist is presented as a descendant of Levi (priest) while Jesus is presented as a descendant of David (King). The fact that their “ministries” overlap is also of interest. According to the New Testament writings however, John and his role would decrease while that of Jesus would increase. The writers of the New Testament, particularly the gospels are attempting to show and prove from the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth was the long awaited and prophesied Messiah par excellence – a son of David.  Christianity was destined to become a faith with room for only 1 messiah. The priestly role would be handled nicely by an obscure reference to a “priest after the order of Melchi-tzedek” (Genesis 14 and Psalm 110) eliminating the need for the Levitical messiah. Jesus would declare the search for the messiah as ended from his hometown synagogue appealing to a passage in Isaiah 61 (see Luke 4:16 ff). Those who accepted his claim to the title would have been messianists in that they would have believed that based upon their understanding of the ancient criteria laid out in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus fit the bill.

The various forms of Christianity today are far removed from the original and thoroughly Jewish faith of the first followers of Jesus of Nazareth. The first followers of Jesus were apparently first called “Christian” at Antioch by others and not by themselves (Acts 11:26). All of the first followers were Jews as was Jesus. In fact, though shocking to some, it is fair to say that Jesus was not a Christian. “Christianity”, at first, was not a separate religion, but was comprised by Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the prophesied Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures. From the outset of his ministry, Jesus called for disciples (students) to follow him (see Matthew 4:16 ff). In a sense they were a traveling school, following their teacher or rabbi – a common experience in ancient Judaism. Jesus and his first followers attended services in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Saturday) where they read from the Law and the Prophets (Luke 4:16-22; Acts 13:15). Though largely ignored by those who claim to follow Jesus today, it seems that this was supposed to continue (Acts 15:21 ff). They believed in the eternal validity of the Hebrew Scriptures (Matthew 5:17-21), and used these Scriptures to define every aspect of their faith and practice. It was the only Bible they had. I once read that the two things the New Testament did not have when it began were a (1) New Testament and (2) a Church.

For nearly 2,000 years, the followers of Jesus have functioned quite separately from their Hebrew roots. The teachings of Jesus have been interpreted, understood and taught from a Gentile platform, void of proper context.

A growing number of modern Christians however are seeking to understand Jesus and his teachings from a Hebrew perspective. A transformation is underway and the result is a much more Hebrew oriented faith, seemingly more in line with what Jesus and his first followers set out to establish. Most forms of modern Christianity can best be defined as religions “about” Jesus in contrast to the religion “of” Jesus. I propose that one can certainly follow Jesus apart from Christianity (a religion about him) by practicing the faith that he taught through his life and ministry – the religion of Jesus.

According to Matthew, a resurrected Jesus charged his followers with three tasks; (1) To make disciples or students, (2) to immerse them, and (3) Teach these disciples to observe all that he (Jesus) commanded them. Jesus had emphasized doing and keeping the commandments (Matthew 5:17-19). When asked what one must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus said, “Keep the commandments (Matthew 19:16-17).

I am reminded of the statement in I John 2:6. There we read, “Whoever says he abides in him (Jesus) ought to walk in the same way he (Jesus) walked.” Somehow along the way, points 1 and 3 of the “Great Commission” were forgotten. The great commission became the great omission! Those who seek to follow Jesus ought to walk even as he walked. They ought to learn and live by the teachings of his Bible. They ought to eat the same foods that he ate. They ought to keep the same festivals he kept. They ought to proclaim the coming Kingdom as he did. A Kingdom where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

If Jesus was not a Christian, but rather a Jew – ought not those who follow him look more Jewish than they currently do? As his followers seek to imitate him in their faith, I propose that they will. I further believe that the more they follow him, the less likely they will be to follow modern forms of Christianity. So long as there is a vast difference between forms of faith that talk about Jesus and those that truly seek to follow his teachings, there will be those who claim to follow Jesus but do not call themselves Christian. It is time for those who claim to follow Jesus to “walk even as he walked.”

Ross Nichols is a Bible teacher and the leader of Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls. He currently leads a weekly Sabbath service every Saturday morning at the Temple Sinai Synagogue in Saint Francisville, Louisiana. His classes are broadcasted live via the internet at 10:30 AM CST (www.shma.tv). For more information about Ross Nichols and Roots of Faith, visit them on the web at www.rootsoffaith.org.

It seems that there is a growing interest in what we are doing and I am pleased that we appear to be meeting a need in the lives of so many people who are seeking truth from the Scriptures.

When I received the keys to the historic Temple Sinai Synagogue in December of 2005, I had no idea what was in store! At that time there were no members, no regular services. All I had was a vision of what could be if I pursued the passion that I believe God placed within me.  Now, we have a growing and thriving global community of people who believe in the One God of Israel and seek to live according to the principles of the Hebrew Bible. We have members from literally all over the world! Some are scholars, some are educated laity, some are Christian / Messianic, some are Orthodox Jews. There are Karaites, Bnai Noach and some who choose not to go by any standard label. Many told me that this would never work; that such a diverse group of people could not come together, but I knew differently. You have proven that we can dialogue when we focus on the things that unite us. While it is clear that there are differences, and some of these differences are on major theological points, the underlying connection is obvious. There is a desire to unite around the core Biblical Message – God, Torah and Israel.

We are now into our fifth year – a year of bearing fruit, and I am excited about what the future has in store for all of us! It is amazing at what we have been able to do with the help of Heaven up this point.

Thus far we have been allowed full use of the Historic Synagogue at no charge. My small local congregation takes care of the building and in exchange, the city allows us to meet there every Saturday morning for the class that has been such a blessing to all of you. We have two computers that have been loaned to us from generous friends at no charge. We were able some time back to purchase a small camera that we use to stream our services live via the web to members every week. We are also blessed to have a creative technical man on our team who has made the most of our current equipment and somehow ties all of the mix-matched pieces and parts into a working studio. Another good friend has kindly offered storage for our websites, and assistance in technical issues, never asking for payment and rarely receiving any for all of his time and effort. We have been very good stewards, making full use of the blessings that have come our way. Up to this point, the bulk of the work has been the burden of a handful of people who have a common vision and goal to provide our teachings to all who desire them at no charge. This is not changing. Our regular costs up to this point have been our Internet bill (approximately $65 per month), a bill due to the city for sewer and water service at the synagogue (approximately $60 per month), and a bill for maintenance of our Synagogue Without Walls site ($25 per month). No one on staff receives any compensation.

As our outreach has grown, so have our needs. The company that hosts our Synagogue Without Walls site has announced new payment schedules for their services. Based upon the information that I have seen, it appears that this will nearly double by the end of the month to $50. We upgraded to the Premium channel for the live stream video of our weekly services in order to respond to your requests to get rid of the ads. This alone costs us $350 per month.

We are in need of some new equipment; a couple of new microphones for better audio quality, a new camera and better lights are really needed for improved video, and ideally a new computer would be very much appreciated. We have been informed that at some point in the near future we will need to vacate the Synagogue as funds have been collected for the restoration of this historic building. We are hopeful that we will be allowed to return to services here once the restoration is complete, but we are not sure at this point if this will be the case, when this move will need to take place, or for how long we will need to meet in another location. Our goal during this time will be to find a modest place to meet and to broadcast our services to our dedicated members around the world with no interruption.

I am also praying about hiring someone on staff, and want to begin regularly paying for the web server and technical support that is currently being provided at no charge, but is becoming a heavy burden for our faithful, patient and talented webmaster.

Obviously we will only expand and improve as funds are made available. The immediate need is to pay the rising bills of the Synagogue Without Walls website ($50 per month) and the monthly bill for our live streaming video services ($350 per month), and to begin paying for the services of our webmaster. I pray that we are able to meet these needs easily and be in a position very soon to buy some new equipment and then to hire someone on staff.

As we look forward to all that is in front of us, one might feel a bit overwhelmed, but I merely have to look back at how all of this has been taken care of in the past to know that somehow the needs will be met. I maintain that we will always do our part to provide our teachings at no charge for all who want them. Every week, we post our classes on the web as podcasts for download free from iTunes or directly from our site. Several have requested CD’s and or DVD’s of our classes. These will be packaged professionally and will sell for fair prices, making them excellent gifts to distribute to those that you think might be interested in learning from our teaching. We are currently investigating ways to make this a reality and I hope to announce something on this in the coming weeks.

I am also working with my own Hebrew Teacher, Johnny Powell, on a new weekly program for those that are interested in learning Hebrew via the web. I am very excited about this and look forward to announcing the details of this class very soon.

So with all of this I will close by simply asking for your generous support in our time of need. We have rarely asked for your financial help, always believing that God will supply our needs. We still believe that God will provide, but want to make sure that we let all of you know of the challenges in front of us so that those who can help would be given a clear picture of what is needed. I always stress that I never want anyone to feel guilty or pressured to give. Too many religious institutions do that already. Our monthly expenses are indeed climbing, but I believe that we are bearing fruit for our labors. One only has to tune in to the weekly service and participate in the chat to read of all those who are benefiting from Roots of Faith. My belief is that if people will give what they can we can more than meet the challenges in front of us. No gift is too small. I can tell you that all that we have done so far is because a few people have regularly supported us with contributions as they are able. I am humbled that people contribute to Roots of Faith and as always, I promise to use these gifts to further spread Torah Faith across the globe.

There are several ways that you can contribute to Roots of Faith. You can mail a check or money order to our Post Office Box (Roots of Faith, P.O. Box 695, Saint Francisville, La. 70775), or donate through PayPal on the web. You can use the donate links on our websites placed there for your convenience, or you can go to PayPal and send in your contribution using our direct email address for receiving donations (paypal@rootsoffaith.org).

I can say that for my part, I will continue to teach the Bible to the best of my ability. Your help with the financial burden that has presented itself will allow me to do so to more people. Please consider supporting Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls on a regular basis and thanks for your continued interest in what we have felt tasked to do!

Blessings to you and yours – Ross

We just received our official Roots of Faith Logo from Denson Brantley Advertising. I am so pleased with it. The logo is actually a collaborative effort. It started with a conversation between my wife and I. I sketched an early version on a piece of paper, she found some graphics and we began to look around on various sites. My sister… Jessica made a very clean version of my original idea, which I brought to an artist friend (Larry Crawford). He talked with me about my vision for Roots of Faith and reviewed all that I had to that point. Within a couple of days, Larry produced the rough sketch of the “final” version. I took this to the team at Denson Brantley adverstising and Renee Jones created the final logo. I am now very pleased and proud to present the Official Roots of Faith Logo!

By the fall of 1996, I had almost forgotten about Mark Powell’s article, and perhaps would have never looked at it again if I had not studied the Hebrew Matthew contained in the polemical treatise of a Spanish Jew named Shem Tob ben Isaac ben Shaprut. This treatise was composed in 1380 and had become the latest work of New Testament scholar George Howard of the University of Georgia. In 1987, Dr. Howard had published this Hebrew Matthew text in The Gospel of Matthew According to a Primitive Hebrew Text, Mercer University Press. Eight years later, Dr. Howard revised and re-published this text under the title,
Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, Mercer University Press. This later edition is the one that I had obtained, and the one that led me to discover a variant text that could shed some light on the subject at hand.

I wrote an article on this particular reading and submitted it to the presiding editor over the Journal of Biblical Literature at the time. At the time I was told that the article was “Not really suitable for publication in JBL.” The editor wished me well and said that she hoped that my rejection did not diminish my interest in the Journal of Biblical Literature. It certainly did not. This journal is a very fine publication, and frankly my article was not as “academic” as the term is strictly defined. I posted the article on the web and it was discovered by Nehemia Gordon, who was doing research on this subject for a book that he was writing. The article was referenced in a couple of footnotes in his work – The Hebrew Yeshua Vs the Greek Jesus, Hilkiah Press 2005.

This article was recently accepted by and published on the prestigious website, The Bible&Interpretation.

This single text is becoming more relevant in our day as a result of a growing number of Christians are being “drawn” to the Jewish/Hebraic roots of the Faith. Check it out here.

The “Seat of Moses” Image is used by courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.org.

The book of Maccabees records that “many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. Very great wrath came upon Israel.” In the midst of these trying times a priestly family rose to the occasion. From a garrison in Modein, a man named Mattathias and his five sons mourned over the situation. They were approached by the officers of Antiochus with an offer of riches for violating the covenant of their fathers. Not only did they refuse to profane the covenant of their fathers, but they led a rebellion that ultimately defeated the armies of insolence.

Three years to the day that the altar was defiled, the altar was re-dedicated. It was then determined that every year on this date that for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the 9th month a time of joy and gladness should be observed. Since that time, the re-dedication of the altar has been commemorated in the eight-day festival known as Hanukkah.

In our own day, during this season, we should make an extra effort to stand for the holy covenant and to stand against pagan practices and those influences that oppose the Torah. Around the world, Torah oriented people will be kindling the lights in keeping with the tradition of Hanukkah. I pray that you have a blessed season of renewal to the covenant – a re-dedication of your life to the Torah. It should also be pointed out that today marks the ONLY date on the Hebrew calendar that is specifically attached to a blessing. The promised blessing is found in the prophetic book known as Haggai (2:10-23). There we read the following words; “From this day on I will bless you.”

You are invited to join the congregation of Roots of Faith for a Hanukkah party at Temple Sinai. We would love to see you in person, but you are also welcome to attend via the internet (www.rootsoffaith.org/streaming-video).

I pray a special blessing on all who read these words, and as always – thanks for your continued interest in Roots of Faith. Shalom!

A lecture by
Professor Geza Vermes
Tuesday, Sept. 29
5 p.m.
Hill Memorial Library Lecture Hall
Reception and book signing following the lecture

Geza Vermes is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford University. He has edited the Journal of Jewish Studies since 1971 and in 1991 was appointed director of the Oxford Forum for Qumran Research at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He is a Fellow of the British Academy (1985) and of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (2001). He is the author of more than a dozen books on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism, Christianity, and the life and religion of Jesus.

Sponsored by the LSU Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies
and the LSU Libraries

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Illustration: Psalms (Tehillim) 11QPs. Copied ca. 30 – 50 C.E. Reproduced from http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/Library/psalms.html

I wanted to post a special note on my blog as we draw near to the beginning of the 7th month on the Biblical Calendar. This 7th month, is referred to by Josephus as the “Sacred Month”.

This is my favorite time of the year. The Bible refers to this season as the “turn of the year – Exodus 34:22″ and I always feel that this time leads us into a holy time – a time to reflect on our deeds and a time to “turn to our God” in repentance.

One thing that I constantly stress in my teachings is that people would do well to incorporate the “times and seasons” of the Bible into their personal faith. There is something incredible about being in sync with God’s appointed times (moedim). A careful study of Leviticus 23 is a good place to start. In the very first verse we learn that these are the “festivals of Yehovah”.

Jews have kept these festivals since they were given and have developed their own rich traditions around each of these. Christians are beginning to see the great value in studying them and incorporating them into their walk, often as a way to be more like Jesus (Yeshua). These moedim clearly have meaning for anyone that seeks to adopt the ways of the Creator.

Beginning at sundown tonight, according to the Jewish calendar, we enter this 7th month. This first day of the 7th month is known biblically as Yom Teruah, (a day of blasting, shouting), more commonly known as the Feast of Trumpets and traditionally as Rosh HaShana (or New Year’s day).

Anciently, the new month was determined based upon the sighting of the new moon (a thin crescent), while the modern Jewish calendar is determined by calculation. The subject of the Hebrew Calendar is a very interesting and hotly debated subject – but one that is quite rewarding. So whether you follow the Jewish calendar or prefer to spot the thin crescent moon in the sky with your own eyes, the day is fast approaching!

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about observing the New Moon – see for example the following site:

http://www.karaite-korner.org/

So, to my Jewish friends – happy New Year! I will be teaching on Yom Teruah this Sabbath from the historic Temple Sinai. Check it out live at 10:30 am central www.livestream.com/rootsoffaith