working4christ2: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Yahshua, Yehoshua, Y'shua, Yeshua, Iesous, Iesus Or Jesus The Sacred Name or True Name

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Yahshua, Yehoshua, Y'shua, Yeshua, Iesous, Iesus Or Jesus

The Sacred Name or True Name

There has been much controversy about what the True Name or Sacred Name of the Messiah is, with all sorts of speculation and conjecture being taught as fact. Below are some statements that I have heard over the years:

"The name of YAHshua has been replaced by the names of G-zeus (Jesus), and Ea-zeus meaning healing zeus (Iesus, and Iesous) which are pagan in origin."

"Now that we know that his real Hebrew name is YAHshua, we can't use Jesus any more in good conscience."
"I prefer to use the Hebrew name YAHshua, instead of His Gentile nickname Jesus."
"As true believers we need to refuse the blasphemous talmudic moniker of Yeshua and use his true name YAHshua."
“The name Baal means “Lord” in Hebrew. The church translators replaced the true name of the Messiah, YAHshua with the title “Lord”. When people use that title, they are unknowingly worshiping a pagan idol, and that is why it is so important that we restore the true Hebrew name YAHshua back into the English translations.”
"Jesus" is nothing more than a pseudo substitute for the true name YAHSHUA."

"You should not use the name Ge-sus because the Ge means earth or soil in Greek, and the sus means swine or pig in Latin, so you are saying "earth pig".
"Jesus is a corrupted name derived from the Greek IESOUS. Ies, or iysh in Hebrew means man, while sus -soos means horse, so when you speak that name, you are referring to the Messiah as “man horse” or “man beast”."
"The name IESOUS or “hey-soos” means “hey horse”. Just look at this example: Ps.33:17, “An horse (Heb. hey-soos/Grk. Iesous/ Eng. Jesus) is a vain hope for safety; neither shall he deliver any by its great strength.”"

Many in the Hebrew roots and sacred name circles have continually and fervently expressed the sentiment outlined in the above statements. Some of the popular sacred name bibles have even reinforced the Jesus/zeus fallacy by supplying supposed scholarship to demonstrate this in the explanatory notes section of their translations.
It has been stated by some that the Name Jesus is a false Hellenic (Greek) name that was conspiratorially created by the early church, in an attempt to give glory to zeus and the Greek goddess Iaso while intentionally censoring the "true name" of Messiah which they say is YAHshua. Some have said, that since the Name of Jesus shares the same letter sigma (V) or "s" from the end of the Greek god zeus' name, that at the very least, it constitutes a pagan connection with the Name of Jesus.
This would be the same as saying that all Greek masculine nouns, that have the added sigma as a case ending are somehow related to zeus. If this were factual, which it is not, it would make for an incredibly long list of supposedly pagan names. One excellent example would be John 1:1 where Theos (God) and logos (word), which are both masculine nouns end with a final sigma. We should also note that when the name Iesous is rendered in the genitive form of Iesou there is no final sigma, so in this case according to the theory, would the pagan connection then be eliminated? The same elimination of the final sigma also happens with the name zeus in Acts 14:12. Amazingly, I have seen it claimed by some that Jesus is the name that actually represents the person of the anti-messiah, and is an indicator of the far greater evils being promoted by traditional Christianity.
Iesou (Ihsou) and zeu (zeu) are not related, and have two completely different spellings. The first letter from zeus (zeta) is vocalized with a 'dz' sound, and the dipthongs eu (zeu) and ou (Iesou) have a totally different vocalization. The final sigma (V) or "s" added on at the end of Iesous occurs in the standard transliteration of the proper masculine noun from Hebrew to Greek. Greek nouns and names almost always have case endings, so the sigma (V) or "s" is added at the end of the word to distinguish that the name is the masculine form, and also makes it declinable. There is absolutely no relation between these words, and the most basic scholarship can easily prove this.
If we take the same logic used in the the Jesus/zeus fallacy, and apply it to a Hebraic context, then people could never name their children Nathan or Jonathan, because those names have the same ending as satan. Of course we all know that those are scriptural Hebrew names (Nathan and Yehownathan).
Because of the many errant allegations that have been used to create fear, and other so called scholarship, many have been falsely led to believe that "YAHshua" is the original Hebrew name for the Messiah. In order for YAHshua to be an actual name in Hebrew, it would need to be spelled in Hebrew as Yod-Hey-Shin-Vav-Ayin. Unfortunately for it's supporters, this name can not be found anywhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. What you will find in the Hebrew Scriptures is Yehoshua (H3091) which is written in the Hebrew as Yod-Hey-Vav-Shin-Ayin or Yod-Hey-Vav-Shin-Vav-Ayin, or the shortened form Yeshua (H3442-H3443) which is written in the Hebrew as Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin.
The main obstacles in trying to render His name as YAHshua instead of Yeshua, is created by the fact that there is no Hebrew letter "hey" in Yeshua, and also by the Masoretic vowel pointings or nikud. The tsere that is under the Yod in "Yeshua" in the Hebrew scriptures demonstrates the vocalization of the first syllable as "yay," and not "YAH." This is also true of the Greek vowel eta, which is pronounced "Yay", and is found in the transliterated Greek rendering of Yeshua which is Iesous. Many use Y'shua thinking that it is a shortened version of YAHshua, when in fact, Yshua would represent a truncated version of the long form Yehoshua with the theophoric element "Yeho" removed. This shortening occurred with many names that possessed the theophoric element of the Name of the Almighty during the second temple period.
Another example would be Yehowseph shortened to Yoseph. Biblical names such as Yehonatan (Jonathan), Yehoyaqim (Jehoiakim), Yehoshafat (Jehoshaphat), Yehoram (Jehoram), and Yehoshua (Joshua), all have the shva under the yod signifying the "Yeh" vocalization, but the later shortened version of Yehoshua (Yeshua) does not.

Some 'teachers' have promoted in their videos and books, that the Messiah's Name is YAHshua, and that it means "Yahweh is our salvation". If we review the meanings of the correct scriptural names, we find that the long form of Yehoshua would translate as "YHVH is salvation" or "He who is (or will be) saves". I am not sure where the 'our' could possibly come from in their constructed name of YAHshua. Some of these same teachers have stated that they do not like to use the name Yeshua, because it only means "salvation". This needs to be clarified, as it is an incorrect statement. Yeshuah (H3444) written Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin-Hey, is a feminine noun that means "salvation". Yeshua (H3442) written Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin, is a masculine noun that means "He is salvation" or "He saves." It is the name that refers to Joshua in the TeNaKh (OT), and is the shortened form of Yehoshua which the name Jesus was derived from. In scripture we find in Matthew 1:21 "for He will save His people from their sins"

If someone firmly believes that the manufactured rendering of YAHshua is a scriptural name, then I would recommend that they check it out for themselves in the Hebrew texts. Creating one's own language concepts while ignoring the rules that govern transliteration and vocalization, and then applying them to other languages to aid in the formation of a Hebrew sounding name does not demonstrate sound or acceptable scholarship. It appears according to the above explanation that "YAHshua" is a manufactured name that has been assembled using faulty scholarship in an effort to support a theological agenda.
Let's now take a look at how the name Iesous, which is rendered in the English Bibles as Jesus (G2424) came about from the Hebrew Yeshua (H3442), the short form of Yehoshua (H3091):

When transliterating Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin -- the Hebrew name Yeshua to Greek:

Yod - "ye"> transliterates by pairing iota-eta (Ih) which is vocalized as "yay" or "ee-ay" because Greek has no consonant y.

Shin - "sh"> transliterates as sigma (s) because there is no equivalent letter for the "sh" sound in Greek.

Vav - "u" > the final u sound transliterates as the dipthong omicron-upsilon (ou) vocalized as "oo" because upsilon alone would not create the correct voicing needed.

Ayin - "ah"> the rules that govern Greek grammar dictate that this letter not be vocalized, and is due to the fact that it is not allowable for masculine names to end with a vowel during the transliteration process from the Hebrew to Greek.

The final sigma (V) or "s" on the end is part of the standard transliteration from other languages to Greek. Greek nouns and names almost always have case endings, so the sigma (V) or "s" is added at the end of the word to distinguish that the name is the masculine form, and also makes it declinable.

What we end up with is the name Iesous (IhsouV), pronounced Ee-ay-sooce or Yaysoos. The Greek Iesous then got transliterated into Latin as Iesu[s], and then into Old English as Jesus, but initially the J was at that time, still pronounced like the German J, which was pronounced with more of a 'Y' sound. This is the way that it still is spoken in Germany today. Over time, the J sound eventually began to harden into sounding more like the the French J which is where the Modern English J originated from. The end result is the current English pronunciation of Jesus.

While there is a clear etymological path concerning the name of Jesus that clearly shows its Hebrew origin, the name YAHshua can not be found in the Hebrew scriptures. The name YAHshua is also not transliterable into a Biblical Greek name, which should throw up some flags to those who believe that the Greek New Testament is the inspired Word of The Almighty.
I find the prohibition against saying the name of Jesus a little absurd, considering that the people who have imposed this prohibition, are calling the Messiah by a name that is not found anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures. Most of their reasoning, is that Jesus is an English rendering from a Greek name, and since all things Greek are pagan, this name should not be spoken, and that no self respecting Jew would have ever uttered a Greek name, and surely would not have written any scripture in Greek.

Many of these same people have used selected passages from the Septuagint (LXX) in their new translations, while referring to Jesus (Iesous) and Christ (Christos) as pagan names. One popular teacher has taught that “ the Greeks called all their gods christos from adonis to zeus,” while explaining that Christ is not an acceptable title for the Messiah. Not only is this not provable historically, but from the linguistic standpoint, as well as the textual standpoint, it is totally incorrect. In the scriptures, we find that the Apostle John used both Messiah and Christ interchangeably when he wrote his Gospel. In John 1:41 we read “ we have found the Messiah, which being translated is, the Christ”. When quoting the woman at the well in John 4:25, he also wrote “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ” It is obvious by the usage in the text that John considered the titles “Messiah” and “Christ” to be equivalent terms. Historically, the Greeks never used the word “Christ” as a title for any of their gods, or as any type of a sacred title at all. Christos (G5547) is derived from the root word chrio (G5548), which by definition means “to smear or rub with oil.”

These very same names and titles were chosen by the Jewish translators of the Greek Septuagint when transliterating the Names Yehoshua/Yeshua to Iesous over two hundred times, and the title Mashiyach from the Hebrew to their chosen Greek equivalent of Christos all thirty nine times that it appears in the text. These are the same Greek names that are rendered in the English versions of the New Testament as Jesus and Christ.

As an additional note, the title of Mashiyach (H4899) appears in the Hebrew text thirty nine times in the Hebrew Scriptures (OT). In the majority of cases, it is translated as "anointed," and refers to priests such as Aaron, or others who were anointed. It is only translated from the Hebrew twice as Messiah. The Greek equivalent for Mashiyach only appears in the New Testament as Messias (G3323) on two occasions, both in the book of John as noted above.

It has been alleged by some that the name "YAHshua" was fabricated by the sacred name movement in the late 1930's as a vehicle to assist in promoting their doctrine. Many in the Hebrew roots/ sacred name movement have tried to use this scripture to prove that the Messiah's Name is YAHshua:

John 5:
43 I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive that one.

Many have argued that if He came in His Fathers Name, then His Father's Name should somehow be represented in His name. They assert that if the Fathers Name is "Yahweh", then Yah must be the poetic shortened form, or a family name. Because of this, it is their belief that the Son must have a form of YAH incorporated somewhere in His Name. When we review this claim, we immediately find a few glaring problems with this reasoning, because King David and others also came in the Name of "YHVH" in the Hebrew scriptures, but they did not have YAH (Yod Hey) as a part their names.

If we examine the New Testament Scriptures, we will find that in first century Judea, Jews were known by who their father was, as demonstrated in this passage:

Matthew 16:
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Barjona = "son of Jonah"

Here are some other New Testament Aramaic names:

(G912) Barabbas = son of abba
(G918) Bartholomew = son of Tolmai
(G919) Barjesus = son of Jesus
(G921) Barnabas = son of Nabas
(G923) Barsabas = son of Sabas
(G924) Bartimaeus = son of Timaeus

We also see this same type of identification in Matthew 23:35 where we read "Zechariah the son of Berechiah"

This is how the family name was noted in the Hebrew culture. Bar means son in Aramaic, and in Hebrew it is "ben."
In the Hebrew Scriptures we are shown the same:

Genesis 19:
38 And the younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
(H1151~ Ben-ami or Ammiy = son of my people)

Genesis 35:
18 And it happened as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin. (Ben-oni or Owniy = son of my sorrow)

1 Chronicles 4:
20 And the sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. (H1135~Ben-hanan or Chanan = son of favour)

2 Chronicles 17:
7 And in the third year of his reign he sent to his rulers, to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. (H1134~Ben-hail or Chayil = son of strength)

Joshua 15:
8 And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the south side of the Jebusite. It is Jerusalem. And the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, at the end of the Valley of the Giants northward. (H2011~ Hinnom=lamentation - ben Hinnom = son of lamentation)

Other names in the Hebrew scriptures (OT):

Ben-'Abiynadab (H1125)
Ben-'Owniy (H1126)
Ben-Geber (H1127)
Ben-Deqer (H1128)
Ben-Hadad (H1130)
Ben-Zowcheth (H1132)
Ben-Chuwr (H1133)
Ben-Checed (H1136)
Ben-yemiyniy (H1145)

Using the many examples cited above in both the Aramaic and Hebrew languages as a guideline, we can put forth the assertion that possibly to the unbelievers, the Messiah was known as "Yeshua bar Yoseph" (his adopted father), or to those who understood who He truly was as "Yeshua bar Elah" in the Aramaic, or "Yeshua ben Elohiym" in Hebrew. These would both end up in the English as "Yeshua (Jesus) Son of God". In the Greek we find "Iesous Huios Theou" which is rendered in English as "Jesus Son of God." It should once again be noted that there is no YAHshua to be found anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures.

Some people have emphatically asserted that if people in the first century had called the Messiah by His Greek name Iesous (Jesus) that He would not have even recognized or answered to that name. Many have designed and marketed bumper stickers that state "WWJD? He'd use his own name YAHSHUA" and other slogans denigrating the name of Jesus as G-Zeus.
For the sake of argument, let's take a look a this controversy from a different perspective and consider the following:
The Greek language in the Koine or "common" dialect, was established as the common tongue by Alexander during his short lived reign beginning around 332 BCE. He instituted this in hopes of uniting all of the areas he presided over with one language. Alexander died unexpectedly in 323 BCE, and after his death, disputes between his generals led to the division of his empire, which was now became under the control of three of his generals. During the period between 319 to 302 BCE, the control of Jerusalem changed on seven occasions. The time period from 332 to 63 BCE is termed by historians and archaeologists as the Hellenistic period.
When the Romans conquered these areas in 63 BCE, they retained the Greek language and much of the Greek culture and customs established by Alexander which continued to be spread throughout the growing Roman Empire. At this time Israel was indirectly under Roman rule, and later became under direct rule in 4 BCE. It has been stated by historians that around the third century BCE, Ptolomy commissioned that the Torah, or the five books of Moses be translated into the Greek language known as the Pentateuch (pentateuchos) for his library at Alexandria, which we refer to today as the Septuagint (LXX).
The New Testament scriptures speaks of the Hellenist Jews in Acts 6:1 which is dated around 63 CE. The second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE which was the beginning of the dispersal of the Jews, but history tells us that the Koine Greek language was spoken in the declining Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire as late as 529 CE, which demonstrates that the Jews had exposure to Koine Greek for many generations before and after the Messiah.
While the multi lingual disciples may have personally called The Messiah by His Hebrew or Aramaic name Yeshua, I doubt if they had any reservation in referring to Him as "Iesous" when talking about Him and His teachings to the Greeks, Hellenic Jews, Romans or others living in the Roman Empire who spoke Greek, which was the recognized language of commerce and literature. The name Iesous was already firmly established in the Septuagint (LXX) at that time as the Greek rendering (equivalent) of His name. Out of the twelve apostles, eleven of them were from Galilee, also known as Galilee of the Gentiles, (Matt 4:15) and the Messiah was also a Galilean (Matt 21:11). We are told in the Gospels that the Messiah spoke with a Greek woman and cast out a demon from her daughter (Mark 7:26), and that He healed the son of a Roman centurion (Matthew 8:8). How did they address Him would be my first question, since history tells us that Greek was the official language of the Roman Empire, and had been established as such centuries before the Messiah was on Earth. In the scriptures we are told of the Greeks who traveled to Jerusalem for the feasts, who wanted to speak to Messiah, and had asked the apostles if it were possible (John 12:20).
We should consider what would be the language that Andrew and Phillip addressed them in, and while we are at it, maybe we should check the language of origin for the names Andrew and Phillip. We are also told in the scriptures that Matthew was a tax collector, so he would have to be versed in the language of commerce which was Koine Greek, and we know that Luke (Loukas) was a Greek physician. We can safely assume that Paul addressed the Greek Stoics about the "unknown god" in Greek (Acts 17:23) as that was the language of the educated philosophers, and in scripture we are also told that he addressed the Roman centurion in Greek (Acts 21:37). This should also raise the question as to what language the Messiah conversed with Pilate in.

As a side note, there is currently an inventory of almost 900 burial boxes known as ossuaries from Herodian Jerusalem (37 BCE - 70 CE). Over 200 of them have inscriptions that are in the following languages:

143 are inscribed with the local Aramaic script
2 are inscribed in Palmyrene Aramaic
14 are inscribed bilingually in Aramaic and Greek
73 are inscribed in Greek only
2 are inscribed in Latin

The different languages of the inscriptions demonstrate a cross section of the different areas where the Jews of the diaspora resided, and the multiple languages that were spoken. This is also clearly demonstrated in Acts 2:5-11. Archaeologists have also found Greek inscriptions on early synagogues in Israel, as well as on bilingual coins minted less than a century before the time of Jesus by king Alexander Janneus, who was a Hasmonean Sadducee. These coins carry a Greek inscription on the obverse side, with an Aramaic/Hebrew inscription on the reverse side. It should also be noted that there were scrolls and fragments written in Greek that were found at Qumran. You can find these listed in the Dead Sea Scrolls inventory.

If we examine the problems of trying to communicate various aspects of the gospel to Greeks using a semitic language, we would first need to examine the restrictions that might be caused by the differences between the Hebrew/Aramaic, and the Greek language. Firstly, in reference to his Name, the Greek language didn't have a true "Y" sound for the yod, nor the "sh" sound for the letter Shin and so on.
Since Koine Greek is more tonal in its approach to accents, Greek speakers were not practiced in vocal techniques such as pharyngeal fricatives/velar fricatives/glottal stops/guttural sounds and other phonemes/allophones that are utilized in semitic languages, but are not common to the Greek language. Loanwords often do cross over into various other languages that might be spoken in a region where multiple languages are commonly spoken, and in the case of proper nouns, they can and sometimes do import phonemes from one language to another. Because His Hebrew name contained phonemes that weren't native to Greek doesn't rule out that they couldn't pronounce it, but it may have been easier for them to use Iesous. And think about this ....

If everyone knew Him only as Yeshua, there would have been no need to write His Name in its other transliterated forms of Greek and Latin on the sign above Him.

John 19:
19 And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Hebrew: Yeshua haNotzri Melech haYehudim

Greek: Iesous ho Nazoraios ho Basileus ton Ioudaion

Latin: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum

The article above represents my opinion based on what I have learned, what I understand, and what I believe. As always, I would challenge everyone to research all that I have discussed, and prove it for yourself.

For we are told:

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Higher Truth

Note * All Scripture quoted by Higher Truth from the Modern King James Version

Other Letters from Higher Truth
Letter From A Reader: Higher Truth Speaks Out

A Reader Comments on Michael Rood's Teachings

Michael Rood's The Pagan-Christian Connection Exposed

Yahweh, Yahwah, Yahawah, Yahovah, Yaheveh, Yehaweh, Yehowah, Yehowih, Yehwih, Yahuweh, Yahueh, Yahuah, Jahveh, Iabe, Iahueh, Iehouah, and Jehovah: What is His Sacred Name or True Name?

Copyright . All articles are the sole property of SeekGod.ca and Vicky Dillen. All Scripture King James Version unless otherwise stated.

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How do Jews who are practicing Judaism, view those who are attempting to emulate their traditions?

For an in-depth discussion from a reader about the various Names, please see: WHAT'S IN A NAME Yahshua, Yehoshua, Y'shua, Yeshua, Iesous, Iesus, or Jesus?

Jeff Weiss is the 'rabbi' that had the picture of his dog on his website, draped with the tallit [prayer shawl], with the fringes touching the floor, until the Michael Rood articles were posted on the Seek God web site. Then those pictures were pulled.

Goldie

www.forthegloryofyahshuahministries.org/page10.html

And these are some of the resources which this writer was told are representative of "real" Hebrew Roots, and which I was uninformed about.
God forbid that this is what mainstream Messianism is about!

Many, while acquiring Jewish trappings and traditions, don't understand the Jewish religion enough to understand what the issue was when this writer asked on one Messianic forum-again in August 2003-, the following.

How do Jews who are practicing Judaism, view those who are attempting to emulate their traditions? Do they view Messianics as Jews?

What about the many "gentile" Messianics attempting to add "Jewish flavor" to their beliefs? Do they resent or mock them? Do they desire to become a part of the emulation?

Aren't we to do things that edify, and avoid doing things that can be a stumbling block or keep people from Christ?

Do Messianics see the picture that had been flown on 'Rabbi' Jeff Weiss's website, draping a tallit [prayer shawl] over his dog, with the fringes lying on the floor, and know that this is an affront to those in the Jewish religion? Weiss is an associate of Rood and Koniuchowsky and part of the 2house movement.

The question was asked because one former Messianic had mentioned that they had seen the picture on Weiss's website and thought it cute. It's not. It's a total insult to Jewish traditions, which many Messianics are making a pretense of embracing.

The prayer shawl holds the tassels. The tassels or fringes, according to the command given by God in Numbers 15:37-41, were to be a reminder to Israel of God's commandments, but those who accept Christ are not required to wear them. No real rabbi would have the fringes touch the floor, and this writer would likely not be wrong in suggesting that no 'real' rabbi would put his prayer shawl on his dog. There is no excuse for "Rabbi" Jeff Weiss's use of the tallit in this manner.

There's nothing new or different at Restoration Foundation than what has already been analyzed in the various Seek God articles. Just a few more names that are different.

The Jews for Jesus article continues with a link to Eddie Chumney's second site, which is the URL this writer was originally given as a good source to learn about Hebrew Roots, and states:

Similarly, the Hebraic Roots Of Christianity Global Network >http://www.hebroots.org/ >website links to materials on the Two-House Theory. On the other hand "Restore!" published an article that seems traditionally evangelical, by a retired official of the Reformed Churches in America...." 11

This writer was also told another positive resource to educate myself about Hebrew Roots was, "....And we can get an additional overview of what are really "Hebrew Roots" folks at http://www.aihls.org/faculty.html Quite a diverse group.."
Brad Young, Marvin Wilson, Dwight Pryor, Richard Booker [mentioned in Restoration links and above] and Ron Moseley are all recommended as essentially good Hebrew Roots writers--what would be acceptable to "mainstream" Messianism.
Again quoting from the Jews for Jesus article, we see that the recommended www.aihls.org is actually the American Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, which was promoted in the Restoration Foundation links, and includes the names already mentioned in this article:
"One teaching institution that is part of this movement is the American Institute of Middle Eastern Studies (formerly called the Arkansas Institute of Holy Land Studies) headed by Ron Moseley. Faculty include Roy Blizzard, Marv Wilson, and Brad Young, among others. According to the Christian Research Institute >http://www.equip.org/, Blizzard comes "precariously close to rejecting the inerrancy of Scripture" and appears to hold "to an aberrant, if not heretical, view of the Trinity."... one organization within this network is HaKesher >http://www.hakesher.org, > the ministry of Robert Lindsay, one of the scholars who helped promulgate the "original Hebrew gospels" view. Also cited as teachers with this ministry are Joseph Frankovic, David Bivin, and Brad Young. Some of these are connected with Oral Roberts University.
In Mishkan 17-18 (1992/1993)> www.caspari.com/mishkan/contents/contents16.html#17-18 target=

Mainstreaming The Hebrew Roots "Fringe"

Mainstreaming The Hebrew Roots "Fringe"

Jude 1

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

It was suggested to this writer in August 2003, that Brad Young, Marvin Wilson, Dwight Pryor, Richard Booker and Ron Moseley were all writers that could not be compared to people in the fringe Hebrew Roots camp like kabbalists James Trimm and Avi ben Mordechai, Marshall Koniuchowsky and so on. That these people are more "orthodox" than the fringe element and it would be wrong to clump them in the same questionable doctrine camps of the "fringe".
I wasn't immediately familiar with those listed, except Dwight Pryor, who is a founding director with the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research. From the Seek God article; Jacob Prasch and The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research:

...The J.S.S.R is not a resource a true believer could confidently embrace for learning Biblical truth. The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, is a "consortium of Jewish and Christian scholars." Jesus Christ is identified by the JSSR as being "like other Jewish sages of that time".
From their website:

" The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, a consortium of Jewish and Christian scholars, was chartered in 1985 as an Israeli non-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to understanding better the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), and to rethinking the Synoptic Problem. Examining the Synoptic Gospels within the context of the language, land and culture in which Jesus lived, this Jewish-Christian collaboration is unique and unprecedented historically...Christian scholars fluent in Hebrew and living in Israel are collaborating with Jewish scholars to examine Jesus' sayings from a Jewish and Hebraic perspective. The result of this research confirm that Jesus was an organic part of the diverse social and religious landscape of Second Temple-period Judaism. He, like other Jewish sages of his time, taught in Hebrew and used specialized methods to teach foundational Jewish theological concepts..." bolding added

...A book published in 1984 by David Bivin (Director of the JSSR) and Roy Blizzard has formed the basis of much Hebrew Roots' doctrine. The following excerpts from Understanding The Difficult Words Of Jesus represent the JSSR viewpoint on the lack of originality of the Greek New Testament:

"...Our reasons for writing this book are not only to show that the original gospel was communicated in the Hebrew language; but to show that the entire New Testament can only be understood from a Hebrew perspective. 2.
"It cannot be overemphasized, that the key to an understanding of the New Testament is a fluent knowledge of Hebrew and an intimate acquaintance with Jewish history, culture, and Rabbinic Literature."

....The contributors were not only from the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research (JSSR) but had to be personal friends of David Forbes.

“Many of the contributors are well-known, names such as David Bivin, Walter Riggans and Dwight Pryor, but new writers are also included. The criteria for selecting the authors were twofold, namely that they had something relevant and important to contribute and that they were friends and colleagues of David.” 26

Jacob Prasch recommends Dwight Pryor... Dwight Pryor is with the J.S.S.R. "Dwight is President and Founder of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies, established in Austin, Texas, in 1984. He also is a founding member of the Board of Governors of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research in Israel." ..."

Dr. Brad Young, mentioned above, is also one of the founding scholars of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Studies, who works closely on Gospel research with Prof. David Flusser and Dr. Robert L. Lindsey. He is a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Theology at Oral Roberts University serving as Associate Professor of Judaic-Christian Studies. According to his website promotion, his seminars attract Catholics and mainline Protestants, evangelicals and Charismatics.

Jews for Jesus wrote an article about the Hebraic Roots movement, in the section "Frequently Asked Questions" and stated the following. In it we find mention of the writers, Roy Blizzard & David Bivin, Brad Young and Robert Lindsay, [bolding added]

"...The Hebraic Roots or Jewish Roots movement can be described as a movement of organizations, often closely networked, that hold in common an emphasis on recovering the "original" Jewishness of Christianity through any or all of the following: studying the Bible in its Jewish context; observing the Torah; keeping the Sabbath and festivals; avoiding the "paganism" of Christianity; affirming the existence of original Hebrew language gospels and denigrating the Greek text. Usually this is all grouped under the rubric of "studying the Hebraic roots of Christianity" or something similar. Much impetus has been given by the work of scholars and writers such as Roy Blizzard & David Bivin; Brad Young; Robert Lindsay, all of whom have written over the past years in support of the existence of original Hebrew-language gospels (taught pre-eminently by the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research in Israel). [bolding added]

...The "Hebraic Roots" movement seems to be growing in influence among Christians, perhaps because most organizations in the movement now have an Internet presence..." 1

This writer was also told in August 2003, that the Restoration Foundation was a source of what Hebrew Roots is really about.

"One good example of what really qualifies as the "Hebrew Roots" movement is http://www.restorationfoundation.org/ - Restore! Magazine" and "(Actually most of the folks who teach at real Hebrew Roots conferences, like the one in Arkansas this week, and Cleveland, TN in a few weeks (Restore!), you do not even know their views.)".

That statement about knowing "their views" was a very wrong assumption. While I may not have specifically written about all connected to that particular organization, that does not mean that they do not fit the profile of what has been written in the various articles, or that organizations they specifically recommend or endorse or are connected to, have not been written about. But, this writer will very pointedly see what precisely the 'real' Hebrew Roots movement is about, based on these required resources.

Again referencing the Jews for Jesus article, we read that all is not 'good,' as was portrayed to me concerning, for example, the highly recommended Restoration Foundation> http://www.restorationfoundation.org/.

"... There is little or no emphasis on evangelism among most if not all of the Hebraic Roots groups, but rather an emphasis on "restoring" for Christians the Judaic / Hebraic heritage of the early church. Some, such as John Garr's Restoration Foundation [http://www.restorationfoundation.org/], explicitly have promotion of interfaith dialogue as one of its goals.
There is a certain fuzziness to the boundaries of the Hebraic Roots network that makes it hard to pin down a general theological orientation. For instance, the Restoration Foundation links to The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry [http://www.foigm.org/], Netivyah [http://www.netivyah.org], and a host of Hebraic Roots organizations,...
"Hebraic / Jewish Roots Christian Ministries" includes groups as disparate as First Fruits of Zion [http://www.ffoz.org], Marvin Wilson, [www.geocities.com/Heartland/2175/gosp_res.html#MarvinWilson]; Bridges for Peace [http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/], a homeschooling site, and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews [http://www.ifcj.org/] and its ministry On Wings of Eagles. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, director of that organization, has gone on record as being an adamant opponent of Jewish evangelism. [http://www.jfjonline.org/witness/faq_wingsofeagles.htm]
It is difficult to characterize the movement as holding to any one set of doctrines. Some Hebraic Roots organizations offer a statement of faith that is evangelical in Christology and soteriology, although also adding points concerning law-keeping or festival observance. Some espouse the "Two-House Theory" [http://www.jfjonline.org/witness/faq_bt_churchephraim.htm] that the Church is Ephraim, and there is affiliation and overlap between both movements. For instance, Edward Chumney, who has written in support of the Two-House Theory, is news director for "Restore!" magazine published by the Restoration Foundation..." 2

A closer look at the Restoration Foundation that this writer was told was supposed to reveal the best and correct views of the Hebrew Roots movement, reveals the following.
Regarding their Magazine, Restore! which has Eddie Chumney as News Director:

"Restore! is published by Restoration Foundation as a service to those in the Christian and Jewish communities who envision the restoration of Christianity's Judaic heritage and the eradication of Christian Judaeophobia and anti-Semitism." 3

According to their website, The Mission of the Restoration Foundation is:

Returning the Church to the Faith of Abraham Completed by Jesus Christ. ...

Empowering Believers to Become More Like Jesus, their Jewish Lord. We help believers to become more Christ-like by embracing the Judaic world view and ethics which Jesus taught.

Showing the Interrelationship between Judaism and Christianity. We seek to restore the church to its Biblical roots which Jesus himself firmly planted in the soil of Judaism.

Turning Christians Back to a Love for Israel and the Jewish people. We endeavor to restore the church to love for the land and people of Israel...

Opening New Opportunities for Inter-faith Dialogue and Cooperation. We seek personal dialogue between Jews and Christians so that all who practice Biblical ethics may work together.

Removing Historical Anti-Semitism and Judaeophobia from the Church. We endeavor to eradicate hostile attitudes and actions towards Jews and Judaism from the fabric of Christendom.

Encouraging Believers Everywhere to Claim Their Judaic Heritage. We promote the restoration of all believers to their rightful heritage in the Judaism of the first century church..." 4

Perhaps the question should be asked--will this inter-faith dialogue bring about a love for Christians or those who have Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? This writer sees no Biblical removal of persecution or hatred towards those who Love Jesus Christ, via dialogue with those who reject Jesus Christ. See: Persecution Free Christianity.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

1 John 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

What precisely is needing to be restored, because, quite frankly, the "original faith" is not missing, nor has it ever been. Not if one understands the 'faith' is about the person of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

The Restoration Foundations prefaces their Recommended Websites and Ministry Connections with the following statement and then includes the following links, although all have not been listed here. [hotlinks removed]

The following are links to organizations that share some or all of Restoration Foundation's vision for restoring Christianity's Hebrew foundations and support the international Jewish community and the nation of Israel...

Arkansas Institute of Holy Land Studies, David Bivin, First Fruits of Zion, Glory of Yahshuah;

Gordon College /Dr. Marvin Wilson-Author: Our Father Abraham; HaKesher (the connection)- An excellent connection! ; Heart of Wisdom- Homeschool Information ; Howard Morgan Ministry;

Institute for Hebraic-Christian Studies Houston, TX [R Booker] International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem ; [ICEJ]
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews -The site prominently features our ON WINGS OF EAGLES ministry, which raises awareness and financial support among Christians for the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel in fulfullment of prophecy of the "second exodus" from the land of the north. [IFCJ]
Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research ~ ("a consortium of Jewish and Christian scholars who are examining the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) within the context of the language, land and culture in which Jesus lived.")
Malachi's Torah Scroll ~ Torah study >
Messianic Bible Institute - Yeshiva ; Messianic Music
Messianic Israel Ministries "The reunion and full restoration of the two houses: This is the hope of Messianic Israel.... Batya & Angus Wooten - House of David"
Project Genesis ~ Torah on the Information Superhighway
Sound of the Trumpet Ministries/Institute For Hebraic Christian Studies /...." 5

So, in this highly recommended resource that this writer was told reveals the "true" Hebrew Roots movement, we have the promotion of David Bivin, the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, which views Jesus Christ as a Jewish sage--all of which I've written about, and the following.

Arkansas Institute of Holy Land Studies--discussed below; HaKesher, the ministry of Robert Lindsay, one of the individuals who helped promote the erroneous "original Hebrew gospels" view;

The Wootens Two House theology, also written about in the MJAA's "Ephraimite Error";
Project Genesis--which I've written about-see--Kabbalah Connections....

"... Project Genesis, which is linked to many "countermissionary" organizations whose stated goals are to bring people out of Christianity or the "church". Many of the organizations and their leadership publicly denounce Jesus Christ. Then there are the many groups connected to Bridges for Peace and many other "reconciliation" organizations.
See also-The Bible & The Talmud and also Kabbalah Initiation > "Transition from Talmud to Kabbalah "The connection between the Talmudic teachings and the Kabbalah is confirmed in the "Hypertext Halacha" of Project Genesis, which is disseminated by Orthodox Jews, and also linked to such Hebrew Roots sites...."

For The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and Rabbi Eckstein--See--Apostles, Prophets & The International Fellowship of Christians & Jews;
Restoration Foundation promotes, Malachi's Torah Scroll ~ Torah study >http://www.messianic.com/torah/index.htm >>> which is David Hargis's messianic.com written about extensively in the Seek God articles.
Messianic Bible Institute - Yeshiva > http://www.messianic.com/yeshiva/index.htm >>> David Hargis's Yeshiva---See: MBI Yeshiva & The Hargis Clan ... Messianic Music > http://www.messianic.com/music/index.htm > David Hargis again.
The promotion of, Sound of the Trumpet Ministries/Institute For Hebraic Christian Studies / (6) takes you to Eddie Chumney's website, which states and promotes the following ideals and individuals, many of which are specifically mentioned as recommended sources.

SOUNDS OF THE TRUMPET, INC "Richard Booker is President of Sounds of the Trumpet Inc. and the Founder/Director and resident professor of IHCS. Richard has written many books on the Jewish Roots of Christianity >The Institute for Hebraic-Christian Studies (IHCS)>

International Board
Randall Bane, Dr. Ron Moseley, Dwight Pryor, Jay Rawlings, Hal Michael Utterback, Clarence Wagner, Dr. Marvin Wilson, Dr. Brad Young..." 7

Restoration Foundation promotes Marvin Wilson--see Jacob Prasch & The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research; First Fruits of Zion--to be discussed; and so on.
Glory of Yahshua promoted by Restoration Foundation shows the link Glory of Yahshuah to be > http://www.onetruth15.com, which is also found listed under the Sacred Name movement.

"Unlocking the Door to the Temple of Truth A 2-Page Site advertising a Book. Makes no mention of the Father's Name, but calls the Son 'Yahshuah'.
www.onetruth15.com" 8

The onetruth15.com website is no longer available but Jeff Weiss uses the onetruth15 as his email. However, "UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH" was a book written by Weiss in 1998, and is sold for $15 from his current website, forthegoym, which is merely one of his websites. 9 He is also the author of "The Truth of Reformation." Another of his websites is For the Glory of Yahshua Ministries. 10

Glory of Yahshuah Ministries

PO Box 22096

Hilton Head Island, SC 29925
Tele: (843) 342-2777

Email: onetruth15@aol.com.

Website: http://www.forthegloryofyahshuahministries.org/

Leader: Rabbi Jeffrey L. Weiss

Glory of Yahshua Ministries, recommended by the Restoration Foundation is the ministry of Jeff Weiss, part of Two House Theology, promoter and friend of Michael Rood, and speaker at Marshall Koniuchowsky's Two House events. He makes the claim on his website--as do so many others- that his ministry is to teach the "Manna" that has been apparently hidden from the church. His ministry is supposedly doing what others don't, that is, "teaching and preaching the entire Word of God (Elohim) as it was intended to be taught."

For More on Jeff Weiss see: MJAA Executives & The Hebrew Roots Fringe; The Rev. Michael John Rood