Time is the biggest loss when fraud takes place, claims report

New research from CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service, has revealed it is the time taken to sort out the problems caused by fraud that has the greatest impact on victims. In response Equifax, the leading instant online credit information provider, is urging consumers to use the tools available to them to prevent fraud occurring in the first place as well as act on it quickly if they

Rabbi Admits to 'Holocaust' 'Torah' Scam

Holocaustolators are the most credulous of all true believers.

Rabbi Menachem Youlus admits to Torah scam and faces jail

Duped investors into believing he found scrolls at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen Holocaust camps

By Robert Gearty AND Tracy Connor / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

February 2, 2012

A rabbi who proclaimed himself the “Jewish Indiana Jones” admitted Thursday he was really the villain in a made-for-Hollywood swindle.

Menachem Youlus, a Baltimore bookstore owner, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to spinning a web of lies that snared a billionaire philanthropist.

He faces up to five years in prison for creating a bogus charity built on fictional tales of rescuing Holocaust-era Torahs, selling forgeries and pocketing the dough.

“I know what I did was wrong and I deeply regret my conduct,” Youlus said in court.

His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said the plea deal “ends an agonizing voyage by a good man with the best of intentions who ultimately strayed into fraudulent conduct.”

Prosecutors had charged Youlus, 50, with weaving fantastical tales of international derring-do to impress donors to his charity.

He claimed to have used a metal detector to unearth a metal box with Torah scrolls on the grounds of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

He sold the supposed relic to investor David Rubenstein, who donated them to the Central Synagogue in Manhattan, and tried to soak him for a $250,000 donation, court papers say.

Youlus also convinced a buyer that he found a Torah at the Bergen-Belsen camp by telling a ridiculous account of stumbling onto a hole in the corner of the floorboards.

He used the money to pay private school tuition bills for his kids and to make personal investments.

As part of his plea agreement, he will repay his victims $1.2 million. He is free on $100,000 bond until his June 21 sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara noted that Youlus had “exploited the profound emotions attached to one of the most painful chapters in world history — the Holocaust — in order to make a profit.

“Today’s guilty plea is a fitting conclusion to his story and he will now be punished for his brazen fraud.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rabbi-menachem-youlus-admits-torah-scam-faces-jail-article-1.1016263#ixzz1lKBQEbpp

Also see:

'Holocaust' Huckster Brings His Travelin' Show to Kiev

Visa certifies Entersect transaction authentication solution

Visa has certified the ENTERSECT award winning second factor transaction authentication solution allowing issuers to authenticate online card purchases.

Credit cards continue to be the easiest and most convenient way to shop online. A passport to international purchases, cards provide a one-click payment solution, allowing funds to move

Anti-Fraud Organisations Predict Fraud Surge In 2012

Research by UKFraud.co.uk (www.ukfraud.co.uk) of over 50 UK and European Fraud consultants reveals an expectation from over 80% of those polled, that fraud will increase dramatically across the UK and the rest of Europe in 2012.

The areas likely to be most affected include: insurance, merchants and retailers, telecoms, government departments and local authorities.

Experian reveals identity and fraud solutions for the insurance sector

Experian has announced its solution to the growing illegal business of insurance fraud, suggesting insurers should use online tools and data analysis technology instead of traditional, error-prone methods.

Fraud in the UK is a growing billion-pound illegal business with fraudsters finding new and inventive ways of targeting

Experian data shows identity fraud attempts double in first half of 2011

Experian, the global information services company, has released its latest Fraud Index which reveals that identity fraud attempts doubled in the first half of 2011, compared to Q4 in 2010. This pushed up the overall level of application fraud attempted against UK financial services firms for the third successive quarter.

Fraud in YOUR business or organisation? Ten Early Warning Signs Of Fraud

Leading anti-fraud consultancy UKFraud.co.uk (www.ukfraud.co.uk) has published a list of ten common early warning signs which could alert management that fraud may be occurring in their organisation.

The list draws upon UKFRAUD.co.uk’s substantial experience across an international client base, ranging from major financial institutions, public sector bodies and corporations to SMEs and

Expert calls on more to be done about fraud

A survey by UKFraud.co.uk www.ukfraud.co.uk of anti-fraud specialists in the banking, insurance, retail, IT and public sectors has questioned the impact of the government funded National Fraud Authority (NFA) to date and highlighted key areas where survey respondents felt it could do more.

Significantly, the survey highlighted that 92% of those

"Yom HaShoah" Liturgy for Catholic Children

Teaching the Holocaust: Commemoration in the Classroom: Liturgy for Christian Schools

Collected by members of the Seattle Archdiocese

Anyone Whose (Alleged) Representatives are Engaged in "Dialogue" With Zionists, Pay Close Attention to This

Anyone paying attention already knew that "dialogue" with "The Jews" is a one-way racket, but the depth of the fraud is far worse than most could imagine.

Tear up the Palestine Papers

Betrayed by their leaders, Palestinians have to start their struggle again in a spirit of national reconciliation and unity

Abdel Bari Atwan - Gulf News
January 30, 2011

Trusted colleagues inform me that the cache of 1.600 leaked documents now known as the ‘Palestine Papers' came from three main sources: Palestinian nationalists who are opposed to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) policies and reject their role as negotiators; former members of the PNA who have defected due to differences with the leadership and have old scores to settle; and people who anticipated financial reward for their contribution.

While Palestinians reel with shock at the contents of confidential minutes, e-mails, memos and handwritten notes, the PNA's leadership is equally horrified at having been discovered courting Israeli and US officials and selling its countrymen down the line.

It should come as no surprise that the PNA is so porous. The organisation's internal affairs are chaotic and its leaders embarrassingly amateurish.

As countless commentators have pointed out, not one of the group currently brokering the future of Palestine — Mahmoud Abbas, Saeb Erekat, Ahmad Qorei, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Salam Fayyad — has a current mandate to do so. Mahmoud Abbas' presidential term, for example, expired on January 9, 2009, when he unilaterally re-elected himself!

Any notion that this desperation to cling to power was motivated by anything other than self interest, has now been extinguished.

The Palestine Papers reveal a gut-wrenching level of PNA collusion — against its own people — with Israel, the US and Britain. It is also clear that for PNA leaders the enemy is Hamas, not Israel.

Infamous for human rights abuses and imprisoning its rivals without trial, the PNA's security apparatus — we now discover — was founded on a blueprint commissioned by Tony Blair and developed by the British secret service, MI6, in 2004. Israel is close at hand to help: in a 2006 conversation with America's Keith Dayton, Erekat celebrated the PNA's ‘security liaison with Israel'.

At its most sinister, this unpalatable collaboration includes a casual approach to the murder of fellow Palestinians: documents from 2005 detail a discussion between Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz and PNA interior minister, Nasser Yousuf about Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Hassan Al Madhoun. "We know his address ... Why don't you kill him?" Mofaz asked.

Yousuf replied that ‘instructions' had been given but complains ‘you haven't offered anything'. In the event Madhoun was murdered by Israeli forces. In September 2009, Erekat told a US official that "we have killed our own people to ... establish one authority, one gun and the rule of law".

The documents reveal an incomprehensible attitude to Israel's winter 2008-09 onslaught (code-named Operation Cast Lead) in which 1,400 Palestinians — nearly half of them women and children — lost their lives.

Clandestine meeting

First we discover that Israeli intelligence chief, Amos Gilad, alerted Abbas prior to the attack and met with no resistance. Then from WikiLeaks, we learn that on December 29, 2008, PNA security chiefs held a clandestine meeting with top Israeli military and intelligence officials: not, as we would have hoped, to angrily berate their bloodthirsty enemy, but to discuss the best way to handle anti-Israel protests in the West Bank. According to the US Embassy cable, "the two sides agreed to expedite coordination and exchange information on disturbances".

On October 2, 2009, Abbas blocked a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution supporting the Goldstone Report. The resolution would have paved the way for a war crimes prosecution against the architects of ‘Operation Cast Lead' including Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni (then foreign minister).

Leaked minutes from a Washington meeting between Senator George Mitchell and Erekat suggest that the UNHRC vote was used as a bargaining tool: Mitchell promised to broker a resumption of the stalled peace process and to talk up the Palestinians' demands in exchange for Abbas calling for the vote to be deferred. It was during this meeting that Erekat enthusiastically insisted that "we want to help the Israelis".

The papers consistently portray a PNA more concerned with remaining in power than the welfare of fellow Palestinians. In 2008, it blocked the release of 450 Arab prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Qorei bluntly informed Livni that such a move would "make Hamas appear as a hero before the public and that Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] gives speeches only".

Also in 2008, concerned that Israel's brutal siege of Gaza was being thwarted by Palestinians tunnelling along the Egyptian border, Qorei urged Livni to "occupy the [Philadelphi] crossing".

Six months before Livni personally oversaw ‘Operation Cast Lead', Qorei flattered the Kadima leader saying "I'd vote for you". The papers are littered with such sycophancy: Erekat frequently addresses Netanyahu by his pet name ‘Bibi'.

Yet the Israeli and US negotiators showed little respect for the PNA group. In 2008, the Israelis presented a map of proposed land swaps, but wouldn't let the Palestinians keep a copy. The sight of the then 73-year-old Abbas copying the map on to a paper napkin is truly painful.

The end of the Palestine Papers' depressing saga sees an increasingly desperate Palestinian team surrendering one key national position after another: it offers Israel nearly all of occupied east Jerusalem (Erekat cringe-makingly refers to it by its Hebrew name, Yerushalayim); it agrees to Israel annexing its illegal colonies and it limits the right of return to just 10,000 refugees. The Israelis scorn every offer and cold-bloodedly ask for more. Then US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice expertly extinguishes the last flickerings of Palestinian pride with the suggestion that its refugees could be transferred to Latin America.

The PNA leaders and negotiators have completely discredited themselves and the Peace Process. As valiant protesters put their lives on the line for regime change in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen, Abbas and his men must realiee that the days of autocratic, oppressive and corrupt Middle Eastern regimes are numbered.

Abbas is making it known that he intends to resign in September — no doubt hoping that a miracle will occur in the intervening time to save him. The whole group should go immediately, but will probably cling to power until the last possible moment, unwilling to relinquish the material benefits and status they have become addicted to.

There can be no more negotiations between today's Israeli government and these fake Palestinian representatives. The Palestinian people have to start their struggle again in a spirit of national reconciliation and unity, never forgetting that they are an occupied people, resisting all the evils of Israeli occupation through civil disobedience and, if necessary, intifada.

The Palestine Papers represent a shameful history that should now be torn up.

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/tear-up-the-palestine-papers-1.754082

Pro-Abortion Rabbi Given Altar at Austin, Texas Church

Rome has been a host to pro-abortion rabbis and their pro-abortion religion (see: Judaism Discovered, 878-885) for many centuries.

Planned Parenthood Rabbi Given Pulpit at Austin Catholic Church

By John-Henry Westen

AUSTIN, TX, September 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rabbi Alan Freedman is a big name in the abortion industry in Texas; according to his information page at Temple Beth Shalom, he is currently “serving on the Board of Planned Parenthood in Austin.” The Planned Parenthood website confirms the fact. Despite this, the rabbi has been given permission to hold Jewish religious services at the St. Louis Catholic Church in Austin Texas. Next Saturday, the Catholic Mass will even be relegated to the chapel, while the Jewish service, led by the Planned Parenthood rabbi, meets in the main body of the Church ...

Fr. Covington said that the “parish's hospitality to Temple Beth Shalom for the celebration of the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur” was undertaken with the “permission of the diocesan [Opus Judei affiliated] Bishop [Joe S. Vasquez].”

full article:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/sep/10091514.html

Fraud in Commemoration of Fraud

To commemorate the historic visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Synagogue of Rome on January 17, 2010, it is our pleasure to invite you to the public lecture

The Holocaust by Bullets

Father Patrick Desbois
President of Yahad-In Unum
Director of the French Episcopal Committee for Relations with Judaism

Monday, January 18, 2010 - 6pm
Pontifical Gregorian University - Aula Magna C021 - Piazza della Pilotta, 4 - Roma

We will be honoured by the presence of the delegation of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as well as the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jewish people.

http://www.unigre.it/Judaicstudies/doc/2010_01_18.pdf

Also see:

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard: Patron of Holocaustolatry

Curriculum at 'Catholic' School Features Nine Weeks of Holocaustolatry

Catholic students attend Jewish Kristallnacht

Renee Simmons - Collier Citizen

November 11, 2009


The Catholic and Jewish communities came together, Nov. 8, as eighth grade students from St. Elizabeth Seton were invited to attend the Kristallnacht convocation and reception at Temple Shalom.

Translated as “night of broken glass,” the ceremony marked the 71st anniversary of the night Nazi Germany launched its attack on Jewish citizens, breaking the glass in neighborhoods, businesses and temples owned by Jewish citizens and forcing families out of their homes.

“This is something in history that people need to know about,” said Melissa Keel, a member of the Catholic/Jewish Dialogue of Collier County, one of the event organizers. “I’m hoping the students will be able to converse with the survivors and that they will take that information back and share that with their schoolmates.”

The afternoon service included a procession of Holocaust survivors in a special candle lighting representing the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, and the seven million others who were victims of Nazi aggression. Holocaust survivors also shared their stories with the attendees.

SES was the only school invited to the ceremony and school officials plan to incorporate the experience into an extensive Holocaust curriculum the school has set up for the students.

“Students at this age are more emotionally prepared to listen and learn about the events of the Holocaust,” says assistant principal Gina Groch. “We hope the students gain a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust, through the experience of coming together and learning with those of other faiths.”

The nine-week curriculum is organized by Patricia Lyon, a middle school language arts and literature teacher. Already, students have visited the local Holocaust Museum, watched a DVD interview of Elie Wiesel, author of “Night, Read Night” and “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” as well as researched reports and presentations and listened to oral accounts by local Holocaust survivors ...

full article:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/nov/11/catholic-students-attend-jewish-kristallnacht/

Another 'Catholic' Rabbi Heschel Puff Piece

Please offer your well-reasoned comments, here:

The Binding of Isaac

Background on Heschel here:

Vatican II Kabbalist Sage, Rabbi Abraham Heschel: "I Want to Attack Their Souls"

Vatican Cover-Up of Rabbi Heschel Duplicity

More Documentation on AJC Agent, Malachi Martin

Kabbalist Vatican II, "Civil Rights" Change Agent Honored

'Muslim Leader' Adnan Oktar, aka Harun Yahya Involved in 'Noahide' Fraud, Temple Movement

It's difficult to believe at this late date that any Muslim or Arab could believe that Zionists would be pacified if Solomon's Temple was rebuilt, but that is the message that the 'anti-Zionist' Adnan Oktar aka Harun Yahyah is now peddling.

Out of a sense of collective responsibility for world peace and for all humanity we have found it timely to call to the World and exclaim that there is a way out for all peoples. It is etched in a call to all humanity: We are all the sons of one father, the descendants of Adam, and all humanity is but a single family. Peace among Nations will be achieved through building the House of G-d, where all peoples will serve as foreseen by King Solomon in his prayers at the dedication of the First Holy Temple. Come let us love and respect one another, and love and honor and hold our heavenly Father in awe. Let us establish a house of prayer in His name in order to worship and serve Him together, for the sake of His great compassion. He surely does not want the blood of His creations spilled, but prefers love and peace among all mankind. We pray to the Almighty Creator, that you harken to our Call. Together - each according to his or her ability - we shall work towards the building of the House of Prayer for All Nations on the Temple Mount in peace and mutual understanding.

http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en/index.php/Hachrazah_5769_Tamuz_9

Chabad Rabbi Preaches Talmudic 'Noahide Laws' to Congress Again

Naturally, this is unremarkable to the Kosher-conservative commentators who hysterically warn of an 'imminent threat' of Islamic Sharia law coming to our shores.

Thomas Jefferson in his letter to John Adams of October 12, 1813 contrasted rabbinism harshly against the teachings of Jesus identifying it as a system of wretched depravity. He must be rolling in his grave. What a pit of wretched, rabbinic depravity this once great nation has become.

'Jewish'-Catholic Relations Fraud Ver. 2 Plotted at Castel Gandolfo

Young Jewish, Catholic leaders meet

June 24, 2009

ROME (JTA) -- About 50 young Jewish and Catholic leaders gathered near Rome at a conference sponsored by Vatican and Jewish interfaith bodies.

Some 25 Jewish and 25 Catholic delegates from a number of countries are taking part in what organizers are calling the "first Catholic-Jewish Emerging Leadership Conference to promote and facilitate the next generation of leadership in Catholic-Jewish relations."

Hosted by the Vatican and convened by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, "Discovering Common Values: a Catholic-Jewish Leadership Conference" is taking place at Pope Benedict XVI's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The program, which ends Thursday, includes seminars about the history of Catholic-Jewish relations, training sessions for Catholic-Jewish engagement, and discussion on issues facing Catholics and Jews today.

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/24/1006092/young-jewish-catholic-leaders-meet

***

The International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC)—the convened body of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC)—is delighted to announce the first Catholic-Jewish Emerging Leadership Conference to promote and facilitate the next generation of leadership in Catholic-Jewish relations.

A Steering Committee of emerging leaders was convened in Budapest, Hungary, from 6 November through 9 November, 2008, just prior to the 20th ILC meeting, also held in Budapest. The group of six Catholic participants and five Jewish participants spent an extended weekend learning from one another, visiting local religious communities, and discussing the program for the upcoming emerging leaders conference. These young leaders then served as full delegates to the ILC meeting—the first formal inclusion of next-generation leaders in this forum. The theme and draft program for the upcoming conference emerged over the course of these meetings.

“Discovering Common Values: A Catholic-Jewish Leadership Conference” is scheduled to take place from 21 June through 25 June, 2009 in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. The conference will include seminars about the history of Catholic-Jewish relations, training sessions for Catholic-Jewish engagement, and an opportunity for participants to identify and discuss the current issues they see facing Catholics and Jews today. The program will also include opportunities for visiting local religious communities and participating in a social action project.

The Conference is expected to be comprised of twenty-five Catholic delegates and twenty-five Jewish delegates. Participants should be between the ages of 20 and 35 and should demonstrate a strong Jewish educational background and a keen commitment to interreligious affairs. Although delegates are not required to be employed in the field of interreligious affairs, this program is specifically targeted towards those who will be able to take the lessons and messages of this conference and extend them to their local networks and communities.

Any questions or comments regarding the Catholic-Jewish Emerging Leadership Conference can be directed to Rabbi Leslie Bergson at (212) 751-4000, x460 or bergsonl@ajc.org.

http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/Castel%20Gandolfo%20EL%20Blurb.doc

More Pilpul From the USCCB

All the hairsplitting pilpul in the world can't turn non-believing Ashkenzim, Sephardim, et al, into biblical, chosen people. The 2002 Reflections on Covenant and Mission document is groundless; a fraud based upon a fraud. This "clarification" is only another step in the dialectical process towards Benedict's "reconciliation between Christians and 'Jews'" where 'Jews' continue in their unbelief, deluded racial conceit and adherance to anti-biblical rabbinism, while Christians, by guilt and cajolery, are converted away from the Gospel and into the 'Noahide' fraud.

These so-called 'Jews' don't believe Jesus Christ, nor do they even believe Moses (John 5;41-47). Their unsubstantiated claim to genetic descent from the patriarchs affords them no special relationship with the Church. The bishops' suggestion to the contrary is anti-biblical, rabbinic nonsense.

USCCB Clarifies Key Points From Reflections On Covenant And Mission Statement (2002)

June 19, 2009

WASHINGTON DC (MetroCatholic) - A statement clarifying two points of Catholic teaching relative to the Jewish community was released June 18, at the spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). A Note on Ambiguities Contained in Covenant and Mission was jointly issued by the Committee on Doctrine and Pastoral Practice and the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. The statement can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bishops/covenant09.pdf.

“Our most important concern here is a pastoral one,” said Archbishop Wilton Gregory, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. “The 2002 document, Covenant and Mission, raised many questions among Catholics in the United States about how the Church relates to the Jewish community. Today’s statement helps to answer these questions clearly.”

Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine and Pastoral Practice, stated that there were two key points at issue.

“The USCCB reaffirms what the Holy See has stated repeatedly: that while the Catholic Church does not proselytize the Jewish people, neither does she fail to witness to them her faith in Christ, nor to welcome them to share in that same faith whenever appropriate.” Bishop Lori said. He added that current debates over the question of how Catholics understand the covenant with Moses in relation to Christ were equally important. The covenant with Moses, that continues to be adhered to by Jews today, is fulfilled, Christians believe, in Jesus.

“As followers of Jesus, we see his covenant as fulfilling God’s plan for the salvation of all peoples, both now and at the end of time,” Bishop Lori said.

Archbishop Gregory commended the on-going work of scholars and pastors in Catholic-Jewish dialogue. “Pope John Paul II once referred to Jews as ‘our elder brothers and sisters in faith’”, he said. “By continuing our study together, we hope to deepen our understanding of Jesus and our relationship with each other in God’s redemption of the world.”

http://www.dfwcatholic.org/usccb-clarifies-key-points-from-reflections-on-covenant-and-mission-statement-20025004/.html

David Klinghoffer Pushes Phony "Noahide Laws"

David Klinghoffer, whom Skull and Bones Bill Buckley employed as a writer for his National Review (the opinion-shaping rag for his "respectable conservative movement") is revealing what Buckley's "respectable conservative movement" formula, which The Remnant and others have apparently adopted, is really about.

A Gentile Torah-Believer's Testimony

David Klinghoffer

Friday May 15, 2009

Recently a particularly thoughtful commenter on this blog mentioned in passing that he identifies as a Noachide, that is, a Gentile believer in Torah. I was so interested to hear this that I wrote to him and asked for his story, which he graciously provided. I am copying it below. It's truly a privilege for me to have such a person among my readers.

But first a note of introduction. A few weeks back I startled some Jewish readers by saying that Judaism in its classical sources is a missionary religion. Not that Jews are enjoined to convert Gentiles to Judaism, but rather to draw them to the primordial Torah religion of Noachism. This is assumed to be the faith practiced by Noah and bequeathed to humanity.

In this model, which the Talmud details in tractate Sanhedrin, Jews follow the moral and ritual Mosaic code, while Gentiles follow the Noachide code. But the model of spiritual reality revealed in the Torah is a gift given to both Jews and Gentiles.

Maimonides makes it very clear in his Mishneh Torah that Jews are commanded to use whatever means are at our disposal to encourage (that's putting it mildly) non-Jews in this Noachide path (Laws of Kings 6:10). Yes, Judaism is an aggressively missionary religion, if not in current practice then in theory.

That having been said, I'll introduce you to my reader and friend, Brian Beckman:

I'm a physicist, and was brought up as a very conservative, traditional Catholic. The church changed dramatically in my youth. From my point of view, it wasn't wrenching, because I didn't change. That left me without an emotional connection to God, but also free to pursue a more durable, intellectual connection.


It can be tricky to look for God in a science-saturated life, but if one digs deep enough, one will find the need either for an Original Cause or for an Anthropic Principle. While I grant that anthropism is logically coherent, I find it empty, like a tautology. It's equally sound to suppose that the universe is here because God wants it. At that point, all one needs to compose a logically coherent notion of God is to study and sift good ideas from bad ones, which, as a physicist, I know how to do.

I am an unofficial Noahide. I follow the Seven Laws of Noah found in the Torah and detailed by Maimonides. I'm unofficial only because I have not yet had the chance to take a formal oath, but I would certainly do so. In ancient Israel, I might have been ger toshav -- a legal alien, and I might have aspired to be ger tzedek -- a righteous gentile, a very high calling indeed, likely beyond my ability to achieve.

These laws contain nothing surprising to any typical American with a passing acquaintance with the Bible and the Ten Commandments. According to my reading of Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh (see Jewish and Christian Ethics, and Israel and Humanity), a typical American Christian trying to follow basic Christian ethics would, in fact, be a de-facto Noahide even if not aware of it. 




That's kind of the point though. How did an nice, ordinary, American Catholic boy like me end up in such an unusual place? Visions? Dramatic conversions? No, much more boring. I found it by studying and listening to smart people.

There are three aspects to my Noahism: how I act, how I think, and what I believe. 

Practically, I study Torah almost daily and, when I have the privilege, I share Shabbat and other events with my Orthodox Jewish friends. These are new habits for me, but not conflicting with the life I've led since I went into religious "dry docks" in the early 1970s. Like many others, my traditionalist ship was unable to respond quickly enough to the tidal changes in the Catholic Church and I just put religion in-toto into safe storage and got on with other things. 




In my thinking, I've reached a synthesis that I can articulate and defend. Orthodox Jews and Catholics regard the Torah (the five books of Moses) as a direct revelation from God. But there is a fork in the road: Orthodox Jews regard it as permanent and immutable, like the laws of physics. Catholic doctrine studies the Bible in the light of St. Paul and the Church fathers. In that light, Jesus' resurrection changed everything and the Old Law doesn't apply any more, even though Jesus himself didn't repudiate it. So which is it? After four years exploring the "permanent and immutable" hypothesis (just beginning, really), I haven't found anything yet to refute it. I know of no place where the Torah states that it is changeable, and I know many places where it states that it is permanent. So if it is, in fact, true, then it seems it must be permanent and immutable.

There are those who reject revelation and treat the Torah not like the laws of physics but as ordinary human literature. I like to note that the claim of Sinai (two million eye witnesses to the theophany) is so outrageous that it must either be true or the most astounding hoax in human history. I have met people who can name their ancestors back to Sinai and claim unbroken verbal transmission of the eye-witness account. It is impressive that a claim like this can last more than 3,000 years with an entire nation believing it. I'll take it on faith.



I believe there is One God, the God of Israel. This much is in keeping with Catholic doctrine, which adds the Mystery of the Trinity. I personally come to grips with this as follows. If Jesus is divine, then he is completely identical with God the Father (according to the doctrinal Mystery). It would then seem inconceivable that Jesus could have any objection at all to devoting oneself to God and to the selfsame Torah that Jesus himself embraced. I realize that this is a personal syllogism and that Catholics will barbecue me over it, but it's the way I have always seen things even when I was a churchgoer.




I am very fortunate to have found this path, and it is only because of the wisdom and kindness of certain Orthodox Jewish acquaintances, now dear friends, that I was even aware of it, let alone enabled to pursue it.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/kingdomofpriests/2009/05/a-gentile-torah-believers-testimony.html

See:

Who Says Judaism Isn't a Proselytizing System?

The REAL Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow

NY's New Archbishop Gets Straight to Work

The "traditional 'Jewish' Passover Haggadah" began to be formulated in the Talmudic Era, centuries after Christ. The Haggadah as it exists today dates only to the 13th century, but this is no impediment to the bishops and rabbis teaching Catholic children that Jesus and the Apostles celebrated this ritual. One wonders if Bishop Dolan and Abe Foxman were reciting the Shefokh Hamatkha ("Pour Out Thy Wrath," which Orthodox Judaism applies to Christendom) at the time this photo was taken.

NY Archbishop Joins Catholic And Jewish Students In Symbolic Passover Seder

ADL

New York, NY, April 22, 2009 … Extolling the virtues of unity, religious acceptance and interfaith cooperation, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan shared a symbolic Passover Seder with a group of Catholic and Jewish students.

"Today, ADL joins our Catholic friends and neighbors in offering our hearty welcome to Archbishop Dolan as the 10th Archbishop of New York," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "We look forward to working with Archbishop Dolan to enhance the ongoing dialogue and programs between the Archdiocese and the Jewish community. The Catholic-Jewish relationship in New York is unique and has contributed to Catholic-Jewish understanding that has set an example that reaches beyond our city."

Mr. Foxman led the group in reciting two Jewish blessings made in the Archbishop's honor, and presented Archbishop Dolan with a mezuzah, a traditional encasing of parchment scroll, to affix to the doorpost of his new residence.

"This is awesome for me," Archbishop Dolan said. "I have long admired the work of the Anti-Defamation League from afar, and now to receive your welcome and your assurances of our hope for future cooperation, which I enthusiastically share, means very much to me."

During the Seder, which occurred one day after Holocaust Memorial Day, Archbishop Dolan discussed the importance of mutual respect and religious acceptance.

"Every person deserves dignity and respect. They [the Jewish people] learned the hard way, the tragic way what happens when that fundamental religious belief is not respected, and we now unite with them and hold hands in seeing that that never happens again.

"I look forward to our cooperation that's been part of the legacy and the heritage here in the greater New York community."

Seder participants asked the Four Questions of Passover, recounted the ten plagues inflicted on ancient Egypt and ate matzo – the traditional Passover unleavened bread. Each table contained the traditional Passover Seder plate, as well as multi-colored jellybeans to represent diversity, and twizzlers candy to represent the whips of slavery.

Students from each school made presentations about the history of slavery – from biblical to modern times. Students from the Immaculate Conception school also led a group performance of two choir pieces.

The Interfaith Seder program, now in its fourth year and hosted by the Intergroup Committee of ADL's New York Regional Board, recognizes the universal bonds of oppression and slavery that are shared by many races, religions and cultures. It is an outgrowth of the League's Bearing Witness™ Program, an annual Holocaust training for Catholic school teachers.

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ChJew_31/5510_31.htm