MESSIANISM: THE ATTACK OF THE CLONES!

By Fredy Snchez Dueas, M.D.

From original article in Spanish: Mesianismo; El ataque de los clones!
A brief analysis of the current situation which Judaism undergoes, with the
"messianic" phenomenon of Christian background that has been uprising within
the last decades in Latin America and worldwide.
CONTENTS
SCENARIO IDENTIFICATION AND PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS
A PROBLEM OF ETHICAL AND MORAL PROPORTIONS
JUDEOPHOBIC JUDEOPHILIA
IDENTITY CLONATION
RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM/HYBRIDISM
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
1.1 SCENARIO IDENTIFICATION
Let us observe the first scenario: the "messianic" phenomenon, the group
where we encounter with religious individuals with apparent jewish background,
but a minority of them actually own it. They dress as Jewish Shomer Torah
(follower and observant of the Torah given to Moses at the Mount Sinai), and a
broad group of them have acquired the chassidic appearance: long beards,
peyot (long hair growing from the lateral head zones), kippot, black suits, wear
talit, and tefilin (phylacteries), etc. If true, not all of them pretend to achieve this
chassidic look, but their disguise is that "religious jew look". Their liturgy and
doctrines may spread from christian evangelical teachings to the traditional
teachings in an orthodox synagogue and beit midrash. Upon this presented
situation, we inquire, what is the problem with appearing to be a Jew? The
response will be given throughout the article.
These are the groups where individuals stumble during their search of spiritual
satisfaction. Proselytism is absent in traditional and pure Judaism; it does not
call for external followers. The real Jew unravels and practices the highest
dignity conceded to the human being, his free will. A genuine Jew considers that
Truth has no need of witnesses, and that an individual can find it after a
sincere search without prejudices, based on logic and reason that have been
granted to the human being (the case of Avraham Avinu, who made his own
analysis at an early age) (1).
In animal behavior, there is no lion posing as a monkey, neither a snail
pretending to be a bat. Animals lack the capacity of changing identity; simply,
they live the kind of life they were given with no choice to transform.

Nevertheless, human beings in their innate pursuit of spirituality (as the

prevalent pattern) possess the capacity to metamorphose, as they desire. A
problem originates from how a person in a spiritual quest achieves his
adaptation to a specific spiritual identity. We do not observe Buddhists debating
Isaiah's book, neither Christian Catholics arguing on Mahoma's philosophy.
Throughout history, multiple and failed attempts of Christianity across centuries
have been observed, trying to reconcile with theological principles treasured in
Judaism for more than 3500 years (2). Our actual discussion goes far from
providing historical resources to enlighten this subject; that matter has been
widely written about, and therefore will not be discussed in the present article.
Who are we? What can we do with the identity that The Almighty has bestowed
upon us? If it is our will to be part of Am Israel (Children of Israel) and practice
a legitimate Judaism, why derail our objective by choosing shorter yet
dangerous paths?
A short metaphor may help us diagnose the situation of the "messianic"
phenomenon. In a way, Judaism is similar to medicine. Everybody holds an
opinion, but not everybody knows or is right about it. Medical treatments are
prescribed by the grandmother, the mother, the mother-in-law, the neighbor, the
pharmacist, the Internet, etc. In spite of that, the most assertive and recognized
opinion is given by the medical doctor, who is the only one certified by the
Professional College that licenses him for that matters and authorizes him in
the legal aspect. As much as the empirical treatment works, the only one
certified to remove a brain tumor is the neurosurgeon.
Similarly happens in Judaism: many make opinions about it, pretending to
"prescribe" Judaism, feeling "certified" to do so. Just like the medical doctor
does not expect to attend his clinic and go out with prescriptions given by the
patient, the same way, a Jew cannot be "converted to Messianism" after
exposing his exegetical arguments of millenarian Jewish tradition.
Israel signed an Eternal Oath with HaShem at Mount Sinai. Israel is the only
certified to keep Torah and to be a light upon the nations. Israel is the only
"board certified" and owns the Divine revelation copyright to men. Nobody else
can steal it or usurp it. One cannot pretend to be what one is not. If there is a
will to become an engineer, one must attend engineering classes at a certified
university and approve every class to become a professional. Each spiritual
identity has its acquisition process and a fine protocol to be recognized as
part of it.
Why should Judaism be differently thought of? What legal, genetic, or spiritual
right is owned pretending to be Jew, for the fact of "feeling Jewish" or thinking
that someone else's merit can make one a Jewish person? What is the
importance of being formally recognized by a Jewish community and by the
Jewish State as an authentic Jew?

1.2 PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS

MESSIANIC JUDAISM: SALE OF A NON-KASHER PRODUCT
As HaShem gave the Kashrut laws to Israel (3) to observe and conserve them,
the same way a "spiritual Kashrut" must be kept, being careful with the spiritual
bread ingested. Food, from its distinct sources, provides the nutrients that keep
the body's sustain and functions. If, for example, pork is ingested, it becomes a
part of the organism, since it is absorbed by the intestine, and then goes
through metabolic processes to break down into amino acids that will finally be
synthetized as proteins that are part of the body. This is how that eaten pork
will help someone walk (by the muscular protein it became) and breathe (by the
hemoglobin, which is in charge of transporting oxygen to the tissues). One
cannot be tolerant with non-kasher Judaism, because the acceptance of this
lifestyle constitutes into one's beliefs: a trashy product to walk and breathe in
the Messianic Age and the World to Come. Every product has its expiration
date, and this non-kasher product's expiration date is confined to the Messianic
Age, if not before. This product leads to a spiritual health problem, of epidemic
magnitude.
MESSIANISM: A SPIRITUAL PERSONALITY DISORDER

Rorschach Test (A).

One of the main characteristics of this phenomenon is that its members identify
themselves as Jewish, just because they "feel Jewish," or because they feel
that their messiah gives them "authority" or "merits" to become part of the
historical and genetic Am Israel. Some of them may realize conversions with
the reform, continuing later on with their Christian practices based on the belief
of the Christian messiah (whom now they call by Hebrew names). Some of them
may go even farther; they infiltrate into the Orthodox world, to the point of
submitting to conversion process, keeping their "crypto-messianic" practices,
trying to mock the rabbis, but they end up living a lie and hurting their own
souls.
It is not shameful to follow the Christian messiah if by personal conviction one
decides to follow that path and live according the teachings of their messiah
(New Testament). The problem with the "messianic" disorder is that it wants to

reclaim something that does not belong to it: being part of the legitimate
Judaism, being recognized as one more Jewish movement, like the Masorti,
Haredi, Chassidic Judaism, to name a few. There is no fundament in the Torah
or the Halacha to backup or recognize them as Jews (a situation that differs to
one Jewish born person that decides to follow the Christian messiah). There is
no place other than their imaginative minds where this group of people live a
Jewish life that they disown, similarly to the psychotic mind of the psychiatric
patient that declares that he is the President of The United States. This
disorder's spectrum is ample, and its diverse expressions go beyond reason
and logic, where imagination and fantasy are unlimited, somewhere near the
limbo.
According to psychiatry, the term Insight is a conscious
recognition of one's own condition. In psychiatry, it refers to the
conscious
awareness
and
understanding
of
one's
own
psychodynamics and symptoms of maladaptive behavior; highly
important in effecting changes in the personality and behavior of a
person (4). The messianic phenomena do not have hints of
spiritual insight, there is an absolutely absence of consciousness
or awareness about what they are doing. This lack of proper
recognition take them to the limits we see they take targeting
Jews to convert them under the church service.
2. A PROBLEM OF ETHICAL AND MORAL PROPORTIONS
The exegesis practiced by members of "messianic" phenomenon, may vary
from the classical Christian exegesis to the Jewish exegesis manifested
throughout the centuries. The ethical point to highlight is that it makes an effort
to approach Judaism with Jewish doctrines from a Christian perspective. It
uses rabbinic teachings to accommodate into its parameters, making of
improvisation a tool to sustain those doctrines, and to maintain the belief in the
Christian messiah. Almost nothing from the Christian teachings (the ones they
try to "return to their origin") has reconciled with Jewish tradition.
The fundament of the Theory of Values (Axiology), sustains that one of the
basic criteria to evaluate the goodness of a theory is its consistence. If a
theory is inconsistent, it has to be revised or rejected. Another aspect is how a
theory explains a certain phenomenon, and how well the justifying reasons are
identified. Each action has one explanation or another, but not all of them can
be morally justified. A true value does not vary according to an individual's
belief, or a culture, and neither is it a subject left to relativity (5). The ethical
principle of the "messianic" phenomenon is unsustainable from its origin. Its
fundaments are relative (since its dogmas are relatively Christian and relatively
Jewish) and its ethic translates in a double standard of "choosing and picking
from authentic Judaism whatever feels proper." Philosophically, messianic

exegesis has no absolute true or validity (considering a relativist approach) (6),

since it is an alien perception away from Jewish perception of the messiah.
The instrumental and final values of this phenomenon can be exposed as
follows: Orthodox Judaism as an instrumental value, since it is used to satisfy
their spiritual needs; and the expansion of the evangelical message as a final
value, because proselytism missionary labor is an inherent value as follower of
the Christian messiah. Just like water and oil draw part, so are the ethical
principles of this phenomenon antagonistic. Trying to find the Christian messiah
in Talmudic and rabbinical literature is like trying to go fishing to the Sahara,
and skydiving in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
3. JUDEOPHOBIC JUDEOPHILIA
The concept "Judeophobic judeophilia" has been proposed to describe the
essence of the "messianic" phenomenon. On one side, its adepts are great
admirers of Judaism, feeling profound empathy for Israel, the culture and
tradition. On the other hand, its exegesis does not differ the one proposed by
Christians throughout history: "The Jews are wrong respect the recognition of
the Messiah." This is enough for the development of judeophobia and antiSemitism, since it was an embryonic reason for which the Jews have died for
the sake of the Kiddush HaShem (the sanctification of the Holy One), since
early Christianity, spreading with The Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, and the
consolidated judeophobia by the Nazis. There is no discrepancy respect the
Messiah, between what the Dominican friars at middle age and what Martin
Luther at Lutheran reform thought about the Jews and the creed of the
followers of the "messianic" phenomenon, who made an effort to take Judaism
to their baptismal pools of their faith, under the shadow of the cross. Many (not
everyone) of its members are anti-Judaism, anti- temple, anti- Zionists, antiIsrael, and by extension, anti- Mashiach, because to propose a messiah
stranger to the Mashiach of Israel, discards the fidelity to the twelfth Principle
of Faith established by Maimonides (7).
4. IDENTITY CLONATION

From the film by George Lucas: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,
launched on may, 2002 (B).

COMPARATIVE DEFINITIONS; ANALOGIES THAT SPOTLIGHT THE ABBYSS OF

"MESSIANIC" THEOLOGY"
Cloning is the process of making a biological copy of an organism with the
identical genetic composition of the organism from which it is established. It is
a method of asexual reproduction*. The only naturally produced clones in
mammals are identical or homozygote twins (8). A small analogy respect
mammal genetics and the "messianic" phenomenon is presented. Let us
consider the Torah Sheviktav (written Torah) and the Torah Shebeal Pe (oral
Torah) as both sexual gametes (the ovule and the sperm, respectively). The
union of both produces the zygote (which forms the embryo, and later, the
being of each observant Jew). The "messianic" phenomenon is compared with
asexual reproduction, since its members do not believe in the Torah Shebeal
Pe as the "identical or homozygote twin" of the written Torah, and they do not
practice the symbiosis between both. For them, it is the stumbling block, from
which most of the Principles of Faith established by Maimonides derive.
Both manifestations of the Torah compare to both cerebral hemispheres, that
even though they are separate entities they unite by structures that let them
become part of a same organ (the brain) and part of a same system (the
central nervous system). We compare the written Torah with the left
hemisphere of the brain, that controls the right side of the body, with which the
Scribes make loyal copies of the Torah. The oral Torah is compared to the
right hemisphere of the brain, that controls the left side of the body, where the
Tefilin and the Talit are placed (over the left shoulder) before extending it over
the body (the guidelines of how to use them are given in the oral Torah)**.
SIMILITUDES BETWEEN THE "MESSIANIC" PHENOMENON AND THE DOLLY
SHEEP CASE
Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned in 1996. She died
prematurely in 2003. Her death generated a debate about long term health in
clones. Scientists discovered that the embryos used in the procedure
manifested "an inadequate gene expression" and the failure could have derived
from a series of malformations than did not lead the process to its culmination
(9).
Similarly, the cloning of Jewish identity by members of the "messianic"
phenomenon generates debate in terms of "long-term spiritual health" of these
people, for there is an inadequate expression of the "genes" that Judaism has
maintained for centuries, leading to "deformities" in the Jewish exegesis and
does not produce the "culmination" process in the "normal reproduction" of
Judaism, because it is "an asexual form" of foreign interpretations away from
Judaism, proper of Christian exegesis, which only considers the ovule (written

Torah) as Divinely inspired. The "Messianic-Dolly" phenomenon is nothing more

than an illegitimate copy of authentic Judaism, which will manifest "health
issues" in a long term that these "clones" manifest. This phenomenon is nothing
more than an "in vitro" theology, that goes contra natura (against nature),
pretending to alter the "traditional and natural order" of Jewish exegesis.
Curiously, the Greek word for clone is , wich means twig, shoot, branch,
stem (10), an interpretation that messianic rabbis use to interpret Isaiah 11:1
claiming that the messiah would come from Nazareth***.
5. RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM/ HYBRIDISM
Religious syncretism is a trademark in the exposed phenomenon. In the angst
to reconcile Judaism with the Christian messiah, the Jewish and Christian
exegesis are blended, and the product compares to the act of boiling a kid in
its mother's milk, which is forbidden by the Torah (11). That "milk" is the
authentic Jewish teaching, and the "boiled kid" is the pursuits of this
phenomenon to reconcile the Christian messiah with the Jewish messiah.
One of the characteristics of an hybrid (the product offered by the "messianic"
phenomenon) is to be sterile, it can not give offspring. Just like the Torah
forbids the crossing of animals of different species (12), there cannot be
crossing of doctrines of different "species," and Christianism and Judaism are
theologically irreconcilable. Even if the exposed phenomenon has many adepts,
they cannot "reproduce" themselves within Judaism, because they are
"theological hybrids" and sterile.
Following the pattern of thought of Maimonides (13), expanding the Teshuva
concept exposed in the Guemara by Rabbi Adad Bar Ahaba (14), we can
sustain equally that "messianic Judaism" compares to submerging in the pure
waters of the Torah (mikveh), with the "Brit HaDasha" (compared to an impure
animal or object) being held while the person submerges; in the end, it does not
bring neither authentic Teshuva to the Jew nor ritual purity (doctrinal and
theological).
Each follower of this phenomenon instead of becoming a benei Israel,
becomes a benei Pandira (with whom the Sages identify the paternity of the
Christian messiah) (15), these "sons of the Roman" insist in their harassment
towards the Benei Israel in their haste to persuade them at any cost to make
them believe in their messiah.
6. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
The current situation of messianism could be compared to apoptosis
(programmed cell death) in cellular biology, which occur in multicellular

organisms (compared to multiple attempts to convert Jews to an alien religion),

there will be the exact time to them to be pushed away from the Messianic
Age. As in apoptosis, which has three groups of genes involved in apoptotic
death (16), we have three groups of Scriptural genes in our traditional and
ancient genome, the TaNaJ (Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim).
Judaism has seen the course of all that have risen against it. Nevertheless,
many things have passed away throughout history, except the dissipation of
Jewish faith, that awaits anxiously for the coming of Mashiach. Just as this
phenomenon was born, so we will see it disappear.
It is vital that each Jew identifies as an authentic messianic, because it is
genuine Judaism that holds the twelfth Principle of Jewish Faith, which is purely
messianic. Every Orthodox Jew that keeps the Torah with much passion and
conviction is messianic. The "Mashiach" concept was established by Benei
Israel and we are the ones that must own the legal rights to use it and not let
it be misused by foreign doctrines. We are Jews, we believe in the Torah, we
believe in the message of the Hebrew prophets, we hold the 13 Principles of
Jewish Faith, therefore, we are messianic.
To conclude the present article, we cite the words of the Prophet Zechariah
(17).
So said the Lord of Hosts: In those days, when ten men of all the languages of
the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with
you, for we have heard that God is with you.
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12. Vayikr (Leviticus) 19:19.
13. Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon in Hiljot HaTeshuva 2:3.
14. Guemar, Taanit 16a. "One who has sinned and confessed his sin but has
not really retracted is similar to one who has become ritually impure by holding
on to a dead rodent and immerses himself in a mikveh to purify himself while
still holding on to the dead rodent. He may immerse himself in all of the waters
in the world but they will not purify him. Once he throws away the dead rodent,
any mikveh will make him pure."
15. Tosefta Masejet Julin 2:22-24.
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17. Zechariah 8:23.
*A type of animal reproduction in which the union of a sperm with an ovule is
unnecessary.
**Considering these comparisons, there is no pretension to establish kabalistic
concepts; they are simple analogies that pretend to facilitate the message
intended to be transmit.
*** The Hebrew word from this passage is Netzer. Nevertheless, the
Septuagint (The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) word used here
differs from the Greek word for clone cited in this article.
A. "Rorschach Test." - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2014.
Rorschach test is used to determine personality traits.

B. "Attack of the Clones - Search with Google." Attack of the Clones. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Analogy between Star Wars - Episode II : Attack of The Clones and the
"messianic" phenomenon, that laboriously tries to reconcile traditional Judaism
with one of the basic doctrines of Christianism (the belief in their messiah),
becoming posers as Jews to the extreme of appearing like clones, and
belonging to a different galaxy (theology) to Judaism.