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Hey everyone, I am the rebbe for Ani Judaism in the North American region, and I thought I would post in here our halakh.
WHAT IS THE ANI JEWISH FAITH
Ani Judaism (formerly Lapid Judaism) gets it's name from the terms Ani Hu and Anoki (Aramaic Ena Na) which are the most used divine titles for the Messiah. Given that we agree with the divinity of the Messiah and believe he is Hashem from the Scriptural narrative and from the texts of Judaism such as the Talmud, the words of the Sages and the works of Kabbalah we found that when the name change came about on March 26th 2020 that Ani Judaism is the perfect name for the organization. Our focus is always to see the New Testament through Hasidic eyes and to teach the Hasidic elements of the New Testament. Ani Judaism believes in a Hasidic religious expression that pre-dates the days of the Baal Shem Tov but has an unbroken chain of interpretation and tradition. It is of our belief that Yeshua taught a Hasidic form of Judaism that is caught in-between the sects of Breslov and Chabad that we have today. Some evidences of this can be found in the fact that Yeshua taught hitbodedut (Matthew 6:6) and that the Apostle Paul taught the various levels of heaven that are core foundations of Hasidic Judaism (2 Corinthians 12:2). Our goal is to not deviate from the Hasidic faith(s) but rather recognize them in our faith in Yeshua.
WHAT IS OUR AUTHORITY?
Our ultimate foundational authority is the inerrant Word of G-d. Nothing is above it and nothing trumps it. Anything written in the Bible is true and isn't questioned. This does not necessarily mean we do not engage in textural criticism in terms of authenticity of the various codexes and the dates in which they were created. We find great value in both the Hebrew, Aramaic as well as Greek and Latin Codexes. Though for religious purposes we rely on the Hebrew texts (Masoretic, Lenigrad, Aleppo and Dead Sea Scrolls) as well as the Aramaic texts (the Targumim, Khabouris, Yonan, Mingana 148) in terms of recitation and religious study. In terms of historical study we find the greek (textus receptus and others) as well as the Latin (Vaticanus and others) to be very helpful in terms of study of historical theology and their changes through time by Christian sects over time, so we can be well educated in terms any criticism that may arise from other religions that may have slight association with Ani Judaism such as the Hebrew Roots Movement, the Messianic Jewish faith and Christianity. By allowing 2 languages to be used for religious worship and 2 being allowed for academic study we uphold the words of our sages. "cursed is any man who raises swine and cursed is any man who requires his son to adopt greek wisdom" (Sotah 49b). We do not require that everyone adopt Aramaic primacy of the New Testament, we even love Greek translations of the Bible and take no issue with whatever translation you are comfortable with into our synagogues. We also get our halakha from the Mishna section of Talmud which is explained to us by the Gemara and the Tanya as well as writings from the sages and Shulchan Arush. We find that if we are to keep the written Torah then we must keep it all, including the Torah Portions Mishpatim and Shoftim which tell us the sages the and judges and rabbis have authority, which was also reiterated by our Messiah in Matthew 23:1-3. We believe that cohesive unity in terms of halakha and practice is essential to the Ani Jewish faith.
OBSERVANCE OF THE TORAH
When we say "Torah" in Ani Judaism, we have the same definition as other Hasidic sects. With one addition. Torah to us is the Written Torah, the Oral Torah, the Sages AND the Living Torah which is our Messiah Yeshua. Not everyone is at the same level of observance of the Torah nor should everyone be before the time of the second coming (Mashiach ben David). We believe the beginner in this walk should start with the laws of Bn'ei Noach (Genesis 9, Acts 15). There are slight variations in the Talmudic laws of B'nei Noach and Acts 15. But they are similar enough to indicate to us that Acts 15 was an early form of the laws of B'nei Noach. The goal through these laws is for a person to shed their fleshly desires that cause them to not be able to approach G-d humbly and that cause strife between them and others in the community. This is an important part of one starting their walk. We also suggest a thorough study of the Didache which was a form of Talmud for beginners. The beginner is not bound to the entire Torah. If one is able and wanting to progress past B'nei Noach and move to ger tzedikim then the rabbi of the congregation will help them progress and take upon themselves more commandments. If the individual feels at this point they wish to go through full conversion and if the rabbi is confident in their investment into the talmid then arrangements will be made for conversion. Ani Judaism, though more jewish than the Messianic and Hebrew Roots faiths, we do not find Christians to be idolators or outside of the gates of Judaism. We feel that G-d has different religious expression for different individuals with the purpose of connecting with their own divine spark to bring them closer to Him. We work alongside our Christian brothers and sister and not against them.
WHAT IS OUR CANNON?
We believe in the canonical 66 books of the Bible. We reject the notion of later books like Jasher, and Enoch as well as the many others that other associated sects of belief try to adopt and pawn as Scripture. We may find such "other books" as being great for historical study but should never be treated at the level of even Talmud, much less the Scripture.
THE SACRED NAME WITH DIGNITY
We are not a part of the sacred name movement. We believe the word שֵׁם (name) must be treated in it's 1st Century and pre-1st Century context. When the Scripture says to "make my שֵׁם known" we see שֵׁם as meaning "personality, or character" unlike the 21st century idea of שֵׁם in the west which is a series of consonants an vowels. Mishna Sanhedrin 10:1 states: "These have no share in the World to Come: One who says that [the belief of] resurrection of the dead is not from the Torah, [one who says that] that the Torah is not from Heaven, and one who denigrates the Torah. Rabbi Akiva says: also one who reads outside books, and one who whispers [an incantation] over a wound, saying, (Exodus 15:26) “I will bring none of these diseases upon thee that I brought upon the Egyptians for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Abba Shaul says, also one who utters the Divine Name as it is spelled."The halakha says it is not to be uttered or pronounced, we take this seriously. We also do not feel that we should be so egotistical to think we are on the same level as G-d to call him by a variation of a personal name. He is above us so we treat Him as an authority figure. In common speech we use G-d or Hashem, reading from the scroll we use "Hashem" in prayer we use "Adonai". There is much debate in terms of the name of the Messiah and it pronunciation. There are hundreds of Hebrew documents that have יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua) and thousands of aramaic documents that have ܝܫܘܥ (Eshu). There are early or later biblical documents of the New Testament that have any other variation. So we take the words of the Messiah seriously when he says to no add or subs tact even a yod or stroke. We commonly use "Yeshua" unless reading from and Aramaic scroll of the New Testament we use "Eshu"
THE DIVINITY OF MESSIAH
We tend to disagree with the Messianic Jewish faith and the Hebrew Roots, we believe that Yeshua is divine and that he is Hashem and his words are authoritative. Yeshua makes many statements through the gospels that include him speaking the words "Ena Na" in the Khabouris codex of the gospels. Ena Na is the Aramaic form of Eyeh in Hebrew, which signifies divinity and that he is indeed G-d. The Maharal of Prague in the Derech Chaim says that a complete entity is made up of three parts, he likens this not only to sefirot but also three kinds of Torah law, three matriarchs and three patriarchs and the fact that G-d is mentioned three times in the Sh'ma. The Ani Jewish view in terms of G-d the Father, the Son and Ruach HaKodesh is that trinitarians get it partly correct, as does the modalists, and the oneness theologians. We find merit in the foundations of all those theologies which form our view. And our view is based on not only the codexes of the Bible and whites written in them but also through Talmud, Midrashim, the Sages and Kabbalah.
we also have an audio series on our halakha that you can access right here:http://www.anijudaism.com/ani-judaism-halakha-audio-course.html
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