Ask Sedim Anything!

[Sedim Haba]

Seems to be all the rage with kids nowadays...

 

[ChristineM]

Where (within say 1000 miles) is Rural?

 

[Sedim Haba]

Where (within say 1000 miles) is Rural?

Central Mid-West. Rust Belt. I hate my state and hate to admit I'm even a part of it. Will be selling the farm and moving in spring, maybe Kentucky/Tennessee/Arkansas/Missouri? IDK. I totally love Kentucky Lake area. Retired, haven't decided on RV life or just rent around. Be a bit of a nomad til I find exactly the right place.

 

[ParagonofIllumination]

It's a strange trend but why not. Maybe I'll do one.
How has your day been? Do you like cats?

 

[Harel13]

Do you have ties to any Karaite community?

 

[Sedim Haba]

It's a strange trend but why not. Maybe I'll do one.
How has your day been? Do you like cats?

Love cats, my barn cat was seriously injured recently we took him inside for the rest of the winter. The more the merrier!

 

[mangalavara]

Seems to be all the rage with kids nowadays...

How did you become an Ebionite?

 

[Sedim Haba]

Do you have ties to any Karaite community?

Not really, it's more my philosophy. Daven @ a Reform shul, eh, it's close by and lucky to have any shul at all out here. Actually, it's a bit of everyone here, Orthodox, Conservative, Messianic... rural is a bit different.

 

[Sedim Haba]

How did you become an Ebionite?

After being a Messianic Jew for decades and becoming increasing dissatisfied with Xian influence over the leadership (of which I was a part, until I was suddenly not) I sought out the root source.

 

[MonkeyFire]

Can knowledge be neutral? And can faith exist as a more simple relationship and not be good and evil, or pleasure and pain? I see that if human intellect can be good and evil, omniscience exist on earth as knowledge. Once belief become faith in nature, the human race can be delivered of the temptation it bestowed upon itself.

 

[Sedim Haba]

Here's how I see it...

Can knowledge be neutral? And can faith exist as a more simple relationship and not be good and evil, or pleasure and pain? I see that if human intellect can be good and evil, omniscience exist on earth as knowledge. Once belief become faith in nature, the human race can be delivered of the temptation it bestowed upon itself.

Wow, that's a lot to unpack @ 2:30 am...

Was it not James who said 'Faith without works is dead'?

That's pretty much how Judaism works. Faith & belief are just motivators,
what you do with this is what matters. Knowledge without fruit is pointless.

 

[Sedim Haba]

I have created a signature, as many Q's here (and elsewhere) are about my dual religion label.

I wanted it short & clear. Comments?

 

[oldbadger]

Seems to be all the rage with kids nowadays...

What does an Ebionite believe in? Is that a Christian sect?

 

[Sedim Haba]

What does an Ebionite believe in? Is that a Christian sect?

There's not a whole lot we know now about them, they were the Jewish followers
of Yeshua that didn't go along with Paul and and the Romans. We only know of their
beliefs from the propaganda of the Roman 'church' who exterminated them.

So to me, it's the (how I hate this term) New Testament MINUS Paul's garbage
and his influence (John's garbage) & all Roman garbage. I focus on Matthew mostly.

EDIT: Realized I didn't fully answer your Q. No, Ebionite is not an Xian sect.
An Ebionite is a disciple of Yeshua, and Yeshua only, but firstly a Jew or Ger Toshav.

(Ger Toshav: Resident Alien, a Gentile who follows Torah laws without becoming a Jew)

 

[Harel13]

Not really, it's more my philosophy

Follow up: I don't know how much you know of Karaite history, but in the early days they were divided into many sub-sects. Do you follow any particular sub-group of Karaite thought or are you more mainstream in thought?

 

[oldbadger]

There's not a whole lot we know now about them, they were the Jewish followers
of Yeshua that didn't go along with Paul and and the Romans. We only know of their
beliefs from the propaganda of the Roman 'church' who exterminated them.

So to me, it's the (how I hate this term) New Testament MINUS Paul's garbage
and his influence (John's garbage) & all Roman garbage. I focus on Matthew mostly.

EDIT: Realized I didn't fully answer your Q. No, Ebionite is not an Xian sect.
An Ebionite is a disciple of Yeshua, and Yeshua only, but firstly a Jew or Ger Toshav.

(Ger Toshav: Resident Alien, a Gentile who follows Torah laws without becoming a Jew)

I love this...... Absolutely love it ...
I believe that Jesus and the Baptist both were hard set against the greed, corruption and hypocrisy of the Priesthood and Temple. I think that the gospel of Mark (with Christian junk removed) is an account of the memoirs of Cephas plus the author who wrote them down.
Matthew and Luke copied Mark plus other things.
The authors of 'John' had a bunch of reports but no idea about any timeline and made up a lot of it. G-John made it look as if it was The Jews who sought to kill Jesus rather than the Priesthood. All junk. John was never there and he didn't even know about amazing experiences that disciple John witnessed.
Paul was not the least bit interested in what Jesus did, he never mentioned a single incident that happened other than during the last hours. Christianity is Paul's and other folk's construct.

I must research the Ebionites more thoroughly. Although I am a Deist I could feel very close to those people.

 

[Sedim Haba]

Follow up: I don't know how much you know of Karaite history, but in the early days they were divided into many sub-sects. Do you follow any particular sub-group of Karaite thought or are you more mainstream in thought?

Yes, now that I'm retired I really should read more about the Karaites and Essenes too...

I do know the Karaites have roots all the way back to Second Temple Period.
I think it likely that a modern Karaite would classify me more as a 'Neo-Karaite' because I
do follow most of Rabbinic laws & practices, and do think that for sure before the
Babylonian Exile the Court was operating exactly as it was set up to do in the Torah.

I credit Rabbi Asher Meza with making me consider Talmudic Law as relevant again.
He demonstrates clearly what is Aggadah and what is Halakhah. A good teacher.
(He disapproves of Karaite Judaism actually)

I guess my main expression of Karaitism is my total rejection of customs (Minhagim)
which have taken on the force of actual Halakhah for so many today.

 

[Sedim Haba]

While in my above post I explain what my Karaite label means to me, I feel it's long overdue to explain what my Ebionite label means to me. Seeing that there's precious little to explain this on a google search. This is JMHO, just stating how I see it, as I live it. Not an all-encompassing expose on every aspect and variant.
THIS IS NOT OPEN FOR DEBATE HERE AND I WILL ASK STAFF TO DELETE ANY DEBATE.
Respectful questions are permitted, if the goal is for clarification, however.

IN A NUTSHELL.

Christian? NO!

Accept Paul, Pauline Xianity, and all that followed? NO!

Accept John and Revelations? NO! (see above)

Think that Yeshua was in any way more divine than any other human has been? NO!

Accept NT (I strongly dislike that term) as scripture? Currently, only Matthew.
....(other books and letters may be considered instructional writings)

Think that any part of the Torah has been changed? .... NO!

Think Yeshua was the Messiah? .... Conditional. (See below.)

Messiah Ben Yosef (Suffering Servant)? YES.

Messiah Ben David (King Messiah)? NO. (as of now)

(This list may be expanded as needed)

Looking at this list, it seems very 'negative'. That can't be helped.
What I seek is to take back for myself what little seems to remain of Yeshua's genuine teachings,
and cut away the fluff, folly, and falsehood that conceals those teachings from Israel.
(Which have been obscured on purpose, but that's a different topic for a different time)

Hope this helps in understanding where I'm coming from in the threads.
(and that folks will cease thinking I'm some flavor of Xian, I'm not.)

 

[Harel13]

and that folks will cease thinking I'm some flavor of Xian, I'm not.

That typically goes hand in hand with some form of belief in Jesus and acceptance of the authority of at least some of the Christian canon.
I'm not attacking you, I'm just explaining why people might think you're Christian.

 

[Sedim Haba]

This really looks like a Journal now, so I'll go make one....

Sedim Haba's Journal

If you read it, you will see why I will probably not answer some Q's here anymore.