A few days ago Marilyn contacted me with a question about Passover (Pesach). It was a good meaty question, dealing with the nature of good and evil. I'll share our correspondance here:
From: Marilyn Gang
To: Ted Walther
Subject: A question for you after reading your blogHi there, Ted —
I came across your site — it was the 5th entry — http://reactor-core.org/~djw/myblog/archives/2006/11/
while googling for: zechariah sitchin, passover
and then just started looking thru it because its so interesting. You are a thinker, a quester, a connector and int'd in areas that I am interested in — xcept you do write a lot more… :)
I'm emailing you because I have a question that has not — yet — been answered satisfactorily and I thought with your intelligence knowledge and curiousity you just might be interested in answering this — I sent the following question to my colleagues yesterday, 3/20:
"Happy Spring! The Vernal (in the Northern Hemisphere) Equinox (Equal Night) begins at 8:07 P.M. EDT tonight.
The first day of spring also marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The celebration lasts 13 days and is rooted in the 3,000-year-old tradition of Zorastrianism. Interesting that although observances around Christianity do their best to ignore their paganistic roots and the fact that the most profound holyday of the Christian year occurs because of its lunar cycle, Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year, Easter falls on April 8th.
It is also probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox.
Passover — one of the most profound Jewish holy times — the first night is celebrated beginning sundown April 2. I have participated in a Passover Seder every single year and even prepared a few. About 4 or 5 years ago I woke up to a question that I have been asking ever since and has remained unanswered: Passover celebrates the freedom of the Jews, the exodus from Egypt where they were slaves. okay, lets say that this did happen.
The reason that the Jews got their freedom, according to legend/Bible/story — is that Moses brought down 10 plagues. With each of the first 9 plagues Pharoah said go and each time he changed his mind — until the last, 10th plague where he sent around the Angel of Death to kill the first born of the Egyptians — even their animals. Pharoh got scared and let them leave. So they skedaddled really fast and spent the next 40 years wandering around in the desert. The year is now 5767. The year this took place was 2448. So for the last 3319 years, this story has been repeated, every year, by every family.
The question is: Are we really expected to believe in, respect, "worship", admire, obey??? etc… — a God — who sends an ANGEL — to KILL people? and animals? yes, times were different and each time has a different social context, customs, etc., but I find this one really hard to accept. This question that I'm asking seems naive but its bugging me, I've been asking and not getting a response, the people I know personally to ask just get mad when I start asking these kinds of questions so I'm hoping someone may have an answer and not be mad or fed up or anything. I want to know so much that I'm willing to risk you thinking I'm a dummy or something.
So what's the story here? what's the symbology, profundity, analogy, deeper meaning here — whatever? What really took place? And how did the Angel know that was lamb's blood on the door of the Jews as he/she/it passed over? What if it were goat's blood? Could the angel detect DNA? Why did they have to kill a lamb to do this?
When William Henry spoke to us he spoke to us about Moses' Rod — when he struck the rock — and Pharoh's staff — as instruments to bring forth water. Is this meant as actual drinking water? or to bring us out of the unconscious (water represents the unconscious) or what?
Guess I'm just a religiously disreputable character. One of my very good friends got kicked out of Catholic school because he kept asking the nuns if they could eat whale meat on Fridays. They punished him telling him of course he could eat whale meat as the whale is a fish and he kept saying its a mammal…"
So that's pretty much the question.
I received 4 responses so far.
If you like, I'll send those to you, too.The reasons I was googling Sitchin is I was wondering if he had anything to say about it and if so, if I could find it this way, i.e., on line.
If this topic eventually ends up on your blog — I don't mind — but if you consider putting my name on it, I'd like to see it first. sometimes when I reread what I write — stuff that goes public — I cringe in that I had not editted things properly — I don't mind the content, just sometimes some of the wording I used…
And if you don't respond — for whatever reason — I do not want to impose on you — thank you for a most interesting blog.
warm regards,
- Marilyn -
Marilyn Gang, Toronto
(now of Toronto, formerly of NYC & Vermont)From: Ted Walther
To: Marilyn Gang
Subject: Re: A question for you after reading your blogHi Marilyn. I've copied a few people in this reply, because they may wish to weigh in with their thoughts as well. Those of you new to this discussion, you can read Marilyn's original question at the bottom of this email.
You've raised quite a profound question, one that King Job, the grandson of Esau, also was bothered by.
God told Isaiah: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)
A child does not understand everything that their parents do. The ant does not understand the actions of the ox. So it is with us and God.
Job chapters 38 and 39 enumerate many acts of God that man today still does not understand. Man today thinks he understands many of them, but he doesn't.
Thus saith YHWH; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith YHWH. (Jeremiah 31:37)
We can't even dig a hole deeper than 8 miles into the earth. It is highly doubtful that we have sent space probes farther than 10,000 miles into the sky. We have no recorded history older than 6,000 years. And yet the priests of our State God presume to preach evolution and big bangism from their ivory league cathedrals of manly wisdom?
God created us, he can kill us. God is good, so he won't do so without good reason. You will note, the firstborn of Egypt were only killed after nine powerful warnings. This shows us how important liberty and love are to our Creator. He does not tolerate oppression and forced slavery for long.
You asked if we are expected to worship and obey a God that would kill people. I ask you, since God kills people, what do you think he will do to people who make his Name valueless? Will he honor and praise them? Will he raise them up and make them his equals?
You asked some other questions, much more interesting.
- How did the Angel know that was lamb's blood on the door of the Jews as he/she/it passed over?
The Bible doesn't give us enough information to answer this question.
- What if it were goat's blood?
For Pesach purposes, a sheep or goat was considered equivalent. A male goat was counted the same as a male sheep.
- Could the angel detect DNA?
Probably.
- Why did they have to kill a lamb to do this?
By killing the lamb, the Israelites were showing their ultimate loyalty. The Egyptians would not allow them to stay in the land after killing a sheep. The Egyptians found animal sacrifices of the Israelite sort very offensive. Rather like the Christian churches today. Egyptian religion and Hinduism have a lot in common, if that helps you to understand.
The killing of the lamb on Pesach eve was Israel's Rubicon. They were severing their ties with Egypt once for all. They showed they were willing to worship YHWH God even when surrounded by unbelievers wanting to kill them. Later, the three Hebrew lads followed the example set at Pesach, were thrown into an oven, rescued by Divine Providence, and later made kings and rulers of Babylon for their faith.
The moral lesson of Pesach is: Be good to each other! There is One in heaven who sees everything, and his Name is Love.
As much as Jews hate me saying this, God even kills Jews when they oppress others; look at the case of King Saul and the Gibeonites. All Israel was plagued until the oppression of the Gibeonites was stopped by the blood sacrifice of all of King Sauls living sons. (2 Samuel 21:1-9)
Interestingly enough, the sacrifice of King Saul's sons also happened at Pesach, "at the beginning of the barley harvest". Pesach is thus a festival of liberty and justice for the oppressed Canaanites as well. Israel was not able to celebrate Pesach until they had atoned for their own oppressive actions.
The sword of God gives liberty to all. (cf. Major Barbara, by George Bernard Shaw)
Ted
PS: In case you want to change your original email (which I thought was well written) I'll wait a day or two before posting this to my blog.
PPS: is your mother Jewish?
From: Marilyn Gang
To: Ted Walther
Subject: Re: A question for you after reading your blogHi Ted !
wow. thank you. was just about to turn in when I got this message…
a couple comments I want to make but am too tired now, hope i remember to reply when I get up…
and yes, both parents are Jewish.
best,
- Marilyn -