This is not an easy essay to read. It does not, in any way, diminish Jeffrey Epstein's despicable crimes — but it does reveal how others interpret them.
As a person of color, I used to feel the same way when I heard about a horrific crime. But now I feel criminals of all hue, religion and gender are too lawless. I just want justice to be fair and swift.
Always happens. One or two Jews do something bad and it is applied to all Jews. One Jew in Israel maybe spat on a Christian, and now all you see on social media is, "In Israel, they spit on Christians." One Jew is a pedophile, and all over social media we see, "Jews are pedophiles and satanists." And so on...
There is an ugly Substack site called https://covidsteria.substack.com/ that regularly posts antisemetic stuff with a particular focus on the conspiracy theory that Epstein controls the USA. Another site, on YouTube, called Fleccas Talks, promotes the same conspiracy theory and is also openly anti-Jewish. There are undoubtedly many more but these are two I encountered by chance. I like some of the conservative-sounding things they had to share, but not the anti-Israel garbage and I left comments saying so. Apparently, Russian dark money is funding some sites to promote this absurd variation on the old Zionist conspiracy theory in order to promote American isolationism and to divide conservatives. And it has worked to create so-called "America First" rhetoric against US support for Israel and against the Iran war and also against President Trump for waging this war. Its main function, however is to divide Americans to show the Russian public that democracy doesn't work. Communist China and Iran also engage in asymmetric war and ideological subversion in the West, with the eager help of stupid people who amplify their message on social media. We're all familiar with Tucker Carlson but there are many others less well known who spread this libel. A few must be paid by foreign powers to do it, but many just want a convenient scapegoat and Jews and Israel serve that purpose for them. They end up being useful idiots for Islamists. Theologian Rene Girard said that scapegoating unites enemies, serving a perverse social function. In this case, it united Islamists, Leftists and groypers. The Epstein conspiracy theory is spread by them even though there is no evidence to support the contention that he worked for Mossad. Epstein served only himself.
Its all over social media - including substack - and thousands of youtubes. Have a look sometime at all the Youtube channels of "preachers" who interpret the NT and dehumanize Jews and Israel. In Germany they used Kiosks to show the hatred now we have social media to share the Jew hatred. American historian and author Martin Sandler has proposed a theory that Mossad, was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy add that to the allegation list.
It's terribly sad that some Christians have been misled towards an anti-Israel perspective. They have fallen prey to an antisemetic heresy called Replacement theology. As a Christian, I support Israel and the Jews as God's chosen people. There is ample Biblical support for this position. I prepared a slideshow for my church on this issue recently. Here are the points.
Why Replacement theology is incorrect:
• The Abrahamic Covenant—which includes the promise of a specific physical land (Israel)—is irrevocable. God does not revoke His Covenants. God also made the Noahic Covenant.
• Denying the Jewish people a right to their land is a theological error that ignores God's choices in history. The original Covenant with the descendants of Abraham still holds, along with the New Covenant.
• God's original promises to the ethnic descendants of Abraham remain valid and distinct from His plan for the Church.
• The original Covenant still holds and is in the process of unfolding throughout history. Christians should therefore support the state of Israel, which is the continuance of the biblical Israel.
• The establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948 is a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
• The replacement theology 'spiritualizing' of the word 'Israel' ignores the literal, historical, and physical nature of God’s eternal promises.
• The Christian Church is the recipient of God’s grace, but it does not replace the ethnic and national identity of Israel in God's redemptive plan.
• Supersessionists think the spiritual is better than the physical, but in fact, Christian faith affirms that God is committed to redeeming the physical world, including
Israel. Unfortunately, supersessionism became the dominant Christian view from the 4th century onward, when Christianity became the official faith of the Roman Empire, and was promoted by the RCC until 1965 (Vatican II) and is still adopted by Orthodox Christianity and some Protestant denominations. However, since WW2, there has been a realization by many other Christians that Christian Zionism is more theologically correct.
• Despite the RCC's adoption of supersessionism, there has always been a minority of
Christian thinkers who believed in a gathering of the Jewish people to their homeland, based on Scripture. The Protestant Reformation's emphasis on Biblical literalism led some Protestants before the 20th century, including Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century. He questioned Replacement theology and argued for a literal Jewish return to their homeland.
• Christian Zionism is actually a return to the original perspective of the New Testament authors and the earliest Christians. Some theologians today argue that
Paul never intended to abandon his Jewish identity or the Covenantal significance of the land of Israel, and his theology is wrongly appropriated by supersessionists. Incedentally, Islam is also supersessionist, which has contributed to it being anti-Jewish.
Biblical passages relevant to the idea that modern Israel is part of God's plan:
• Romans 11:29 "for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.“
• Ezekiel 36–48 describes a literal future restoration of the nation of Israel to its land
• In Ezekiel 36, God promises to bless the desolate mountains of Israel, causing them to be inhabited, cultivated, and prosperous again.
• God vows to gather the Israelites from foreign nations and return them to their own land, not because they deserve it, but to vindicate His holy name.
• In Ezekiel 37, there is an image of a valley of dead, dry bones coming together, receiving flesh, and being breathed into by the Spirit to live again. Some interpret this as the Shoah and subsequent founding of modern Israel. This represents the whole house of Israel, bringing them out of their graves (exile) and returning them to their land, where they will become one nation. They are brought to life to form "an exceedingly great army" (Ez 37:10). This can be understood as the IDF.
• Ezekiel 36:24 says, "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.“
• Ezekiel 37: 21 says, "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around,
and bring them to their own land.” The Zionist movement and the immigration of Jews from around the world to Israel can be seen as the fulfillment of this promise.
• Ezekiel 38-39, the defeat of Gog and Magog. A coalition of nations led by Gog will be defeated on the mountains of Israel (1967 war?). Gog, in a literal-historical understanding, is thought to be Russia, and Magog is Iran (Persia). One could add that the USSR's legacy of supporting Islamo-Marxist Iran has continued through support by Communist China, making it Gog.
• Ezekiel 40–44 is a prophecy of the Third Temple.
• Ezekiel 36:35 says, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden." Zionists turned a wasteland into a productive exporter of food.
• God promises the land of Israel (originally Canaan) to the Jewish people as an "everlasting possession" in Genesis 17:8, as part of the covenant with Abraham. This is also in Genesis 13:15, Genesis 48:4, and 1 Chronicles 16:15–18. This is to be taken literally, not as a spiritual metaphor.
• God does not revoke His promises. God's faithfulness to Israel has continued despite frequent examples of lack of faith in Bible stories. Why should today be different?
• The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12, 15, 17) says God's covenants are unconditional and eternal. These promises were made by God to Himself, so they cannot be broken by human failure.
• God has two distinct but related plans. One plan is for the Church (the body of Christ), and one is for Israel. Replacement theology confuses them.
• In Romans 11:1, Paul says: "Did God reject his people? By no means!“
• Romans 11:29: "For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable". The election of Israel as a distinct nation is permanent and hasn't been transferred to the Church.
• In Ezekiel 36:24–32, God brings the people back to their own land before a spiritual cleansing occurs. This is happening now.
• In Jeremiah 31:35–37, it says that Israel will never cease to be a nation before God as long as the sun, moon, and stars exist.
• In Acts 3:21, Peter refers to "restoration of all things" as prophesied in the Torah. This includes the literal restoration of the Jewish kingdom, Israel.
• Gerald McDermott is an expert on Christian Zionism and author of two books on it. He argues that it doesn't have to rely on dispensationalism. He notes that Christian Zionism existed before dispensationalism became popular in the 19th century. Christian Zionism goes back to Jesus Himself and the prophets.
• McDermott says that God works through specific people and a specific land to achieve a universal objective. The land promise is an essential component of God’s redemptive purpose.
• The 1948 establishment of the modern State of Israel is a partial fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The New Testament should be understood as a Zionist text. Jesus should be viewed as a Jew and an Israelite.
• A literal reading of the Greek NT texts shows that the land promise is not obsolete but central to the Gospel's meaning. Gentile believers should be understood as being grafted into the existing "olive tree" (Romans 11) of the Jewish people, which maintains its distinct identity.
• Matthew 5:5 says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.“ The NT Greek word γῆ can be translated as either "earth" or "land" - so this could refer to Jews inheriting Israel. In the original Greek of Matthew 5:5, the word used is γῆν (a form of γῆ). Jesus is quoting Psalm 37, where "inheriting the land" explicitly refers to the Land of Israel. Jesus is referring to the land of Israel as part of God's redemptive plan for it.
• In Luke 21:24, we see Jesus' prophecy for Jerusalem: "Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". This is a prediction of a future time when Jews regain political power over Jerusalem. The 1967 reunification of Jerusalem could be a fulfillment of this prophecy.
• Covenantal nomism is the idea that one enters the covenant by grace but stays in it through obedience. The Jewish people are brought back by God's grace and faithfulness to His word, but they are then obligated to share the land in justice. And they do in fact share it with the Druze, with two million Arab Israeli citizens, and with Christians. The land is not just a prize, but a divine task.
• Supersessionists say that the exile from Jerusalem in 70 AD is a sign that God broke the covenant, but McDermott argues that exile is a divine discipline, not a permanent divorce. He points to the Babylonian exile as a precedent: Israel lost possession of the land because of sin, but they never lost ownership.
• If the land promise was 'spiritualized' away because of Jewish disobedience, then God’s promises are essentially 'works-based,' not based on grace. But in fact, we are not saved by works alone (a point made by Paul and amplified during the Reformation in response to the heresy of indulgences).
• If God's promises depend entirely on human obedience, then no one—including the Church—has any security.
• President Trump is sometimes compared with King Cyrus, a non-Jew who supported the Jews. Of all presidents in history, he has been the most supportive of Jews and Israel.
Todah Rabah for your post - and - please share your presentation -with as many people as possible. Replacement theology plays a large part of the genesis of antisemtism.
A lucid, astute, precise essay, Joshua Hoffman. An important one, too. I like your writing very much, for it eases us into truth and clarity in such a way that anger and frustration at the twisted, dishonest and so frequently biassed voices around us, dissipate and become resolve and dignity instead.
Joshua, as far as I’m concerned, when people emphasize that Epstein was Jewish, it has nothing to do with facts. It’s about finding another opportunity to attack Jews or Israel. Ironically, all too often it comes from people who claim to champion progressive values. We’re constantly told that justice should be blind and that individuals shouldn’t be judged by their identity, yet that principle suddenly disappears when the person involved happens to be Jewish. Epstein was a criminal, full stop. Turning his crimes into commentary about Jews says far more about the agenda of those pushing that narrative than it does about the facts.
There was a 2020 trial around Los Angeles against a Jewish woman named Rebecca Grossman. She was characterized by the media in hyper-judgmental terms. The media moralized that she was a "socialite," "an adulteress," a "felon." In 2020 she was convicted of a hit-and-run killing of two young brothers who were Jordanian. She was having an affair and while driving killed these two kids. She was guilty of the hit-and-run, but would the media have demonized her to this extent if she wasn't Jewish and the victims weren't Jordanian? This is antisemitic California, and she is currently sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. California has made excuses to let off stone-cold killers. Yet California threw the book at Rebecca Grossman. Would they have demonized her if she wasn't Jewish? Hard to imagine given their lax attitude towards so many criminal defendants.
What is tied to the Global Power Network and money is the Jewish angle that is Epstein, and then coupled with Mossad for extra punch to really get the ire of Jew haters. There is so much money being pumped from nefarious sources to not only demonize Israel, but Jews of visibility everywhere, as well as Western culture.Do we see the same interest or demand for accountability from the political parties or citizens for trafficking young girls and women by illegals, outrage at young white girls being sexually assaulted by Pakis in London? And it goes on and on. It's all a theatrical show with a Jew as the icing that helps those already anti-Semitic to have their hate reinforced, and those on the periphery to be convinced. Epstein was a sick individual who used and abused young girls and women, that is the real crime he committed, not being Jewish. Joshua's essay gives excellent points, but those who have used Epstein's Jewishness connecting it to his crime will not give thought to what he wrote. Hate doesn't allow them to think that deeply.
Agree completely. It's not an accident that many of the people demonised (and Epstein is being made out to be an Israel-sponsored villain at the centre of the entire world's problems and also a cannibal who ate babies)are Jews - Weinstein, Polanski (a Holocaust survivor), Woody Allen (who has never been charged but whose life has been wrecked). Were there no non-Jews who did these and worse things? Why doesn't anyone know their names? Madoff was demonised in the same way - as if he was the worst criminal ever.
I wish you did not go there with this one. Epstein ran with the elite and what they all did and some continue to do was horrible and vile. He almost got a pass because of his connections not his Jewishness. We still do not know all of the victims and if there are dead bodies.
Robert Maxwell (escaped Nazi occupation of Czechia) - very mad, evil and father of (Epstein co conspirator) Ghislaine Maxwell - was Jewish... I blame the countries of origin. And capitalism...
while you claim you are not denying how horrific his crimes were, you define them as "power, money and access and the abuse of all three." What the hell??? His "crimes" were raping and probably murdering little girls! Why on earth are you white-washing them? Because he is Jewish and a disgrace to the race? He is not a disgrace to Jewish people. He is a disgrace to humanity. Don't make light of what he did to young girls and what he masterminded others to do as well to them.
I don’t believe that a massage becomes “sexual abuse” just because you enjoy it or that it becomes “sex trafficking” because the massage table was shipped from California
so Maxwell was wrongly convicted then in your opinion? You are a sick individual. Again so sad you don't believe all of these young victims of sexual assault and rape.
Of course not. Ditto Harvey Weinstein, Peter Mandelson, Les Wexner.. What makes it most ironic is that said “ Jews” are those who, like Soros, Reid Hoffman, Mandy Patinkin, Dustin Moskowitz, Michael Moritz, Bernie Sanders , Norm Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Noem Chomsky,Madea Benjamin, Ariel Gold, Naomi Klein, Henry Kissinger, Jill Stein, Aaron Mate, Glenn Greenwald, Dave Smith, Tom Steyer,Wallace Shaun, Norman Lear, Cynthia Nixon, Avril Haines , Jon Ben Ami, Ron Unz,Penny Pritzker, Sandor and Faye Straus, Gelman, Dan Goldman,Nathaniel ,Ariane, Lynn d’Rothschild,Ben Cohen and here’s a doozy-Steven Spielberg- have been the most instrumental in selling out Israel and the Jews.
Jeffrey EPstein hated Israel and loathed being Jewish so much that he colluded with Hamas, Iran and Iraq and was in the process of converting to Islam just prior to going to prison.
All for naught. Had the psycho Jew haters known what Epstein was engaged in that was his real purpose, they’d have fought for him to be freed and Epstein statues and murals would be displayed in Times Square and the philadelphia Al Aqsa mosque
How many of my fellow jews, when learning about epstein or weinstein or madoff, didn't say it think damn why did he have to be Jewish?
As a person of color, I used to feel the same way when I heard about a horrific crime. But now I feel criminals of all hue, religion and gender are too lawless. I just want justice to be fair and swift.
Lady Justice has on a blindfold and holds a sword for a reason. Your post articulates why perfectly. The rule of law means nothing otherwise.
Yes.
If Epstein had been any religion other than Jewish - it never would have been mentioned. That’s all you need to know.
Always happens. One or two Jews do something bad and it is applied to all Jews. One Jew in Israel maybe spat on a Christian, and now all you see on social media is, "In Israel, they spit on Christians." One Jew is a pedophile, and all over social media we see, "Jews are pedophiles and satanists." And so on...
The issue here is perception by the mass public not whether Epstein was a scumbag( he was ).
There is an ugly Substack site called https://covidsteria.substack.com/ that regularly posts antisemetic stuff with a particular focus on the conspiracy theory that Epstein controls the USA. Another site, on YouTube, called Fleccas Talks, promotes the same conspiracy theory and is also openly anti-Jewish. There are undoubtedly many more but these are two I encountered by chance. I like some of the conservative-sounding things they had to share, but not the anti-Israel garbage and I left comments saying so. Apparently, Russian dark money is funding some sites to promote this absurd variation on the old Zionist conspiracy theory in order to promote American isolationism and to divide conservatives. And it has worked to create so-called "America First" rhetoric against US support for Israel and against the Iran war and also against President Trump for waging this war. Its main function, however is to divide Americans to show the Russian public that democracy doesn't work. Communist China and Iran also engage in asymmetric war and ideological subversion in the West, with the eager help of stupid people who amplify their message on social media. We're all familiar with Tucker Carlson but there are many others less well known who spread this libel. A few must be paid by foreign powers to do it, but many just want a convenient scapegoat and Jews and Israel serve that purpose for them. They end up being useful idiots for Islamists. Theologian Rene Girard said that scapegoating unites enemies, serving a perverse social function. In this case, it united Islamists, Leftists and groypers. The Epstein conspiracy theory is spread by them even though there is no evidence to support the contention that he worked for Mossad. Epstein served only himself.
Its all over social media - including substack - and thousands of youtubes. Have a look sometime at all the Youtube channels of "preachers" who interpret the NT and dehumanize Jews and Israel. In Germany they used Kiosks to show the hatred now we have social media to share the Jew hatred. American historian and author Martin Sandler has proposed a theory that Mossad, was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy add that to the allegation list.
It's terribly sad that some Christians have been misled towards an anti-Israel perspective. They have fallen prey to an antisemetic heresy called Replacement theology. As a Christian, I support Israel and the Jews as God's chosen people. There is ample Biblical support for this position. I prepared a slideshow for my church on this issue recently. Here are the points.
Why Replacement theology is incorrect:
• The Abrahamic Covenant—which includes the promise of a specific physical land (Israel)—is irrevocable. God does not revoke His Covenants. God also made the Noahic Covenant.
• Denying the Jewish people a right to their land is a theological error that ignores God's choices in history. The original Covenant with the descendants of Abraham still holds, along with the New Covenant.
• God's original promises to the ethnic descendants of Abraham remain valid and distinct from His plan for the Church.
• The original Covenant still holds and is in the process of unfolding throughout history. Christians should therefore support the state of Israel, which is the continuance of the biblical Israel.
• The establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948 is a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
• The replacement theology 'spiritualizing' of the word 'Israel' ignores the literal, historical, and physical nature of God’s eternal promises.
• The Christian Church is the recipient of God’s grace, but it does not replace the ethnic and national identity of Israel in God's redemptive plan.
• Supersessionists think the spiritual is better than the physical, but in fact, Christian faith affirms that God is committed to redeeming the physical world, including
Israel. Unfortunately, supersessionism became the dominant Christian view from the 4th century onward, when Christianity became the official faith of the Roman Empire, and was promoted by the RCC until 1965 (Vatican II) and is still adopted by Orthodox Christianity and some Protestant denominations. However, since WW2, there has been a realization by many other Christians that Christian Zionism is more theologically correct.
• Despite the RCC's adoption of supersessionism, there has always been a minority of
Christian thinkers who believed in a gathering of the Jewish people to their homeland, based on Scripture. The Protestant Reformation's emphasis on Biblical literalism led some Protestants before the 20th century, including Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century. He questioned Replacement theology and argued for a literal Jewish return to their homeland.
• Christian Zionism is actually a return to the original perspective of the New Testament authors and the earliest Christians. Some theologians today argue that
Paul never intended to abandon his Jewish identity or the Covenantal significance of the land of Israel, and his theology is wrongly appropriated by supersessionists. Incedentally, Islam is also supersessionist, which has contributed to it being anti-Jewish.
Biblical passages relevant to the idea that modern Israel is part of God's plan:
• Romans 11:29 "for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.“
• Ezekiel 36–48 describes a literal future restoration of the nation of Israel to its land
• In Ezekiel 36, God promises to bless the desolate mountains of Israel, causing them to be inhabited, cultivated, and prosperous again.
• God vows to gather the Israelites from foreign nations and return them to their own land, not because they deserve it, but to vindicate His holy name.
• In Ezekiel 37, there is an image of a valley of dead, dry bones coming together, receiving flesh, and being breathed into by the Spirit to live again. Some interpret this as the Shoah and subsequent founding of modern Israel. This represents the whole house of Israel, bringing them out of their graves (exile) and returning them to their land, where they will become one nation. They are brought to life to form "an exceedingly great army" (Ez 37:10). This can be understood as the IDF.
• Ezekiel 36:24 says, "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.“
• Ezekiel 37: 21 says, "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around,
and bring them to their own land.” The Zionist movement and the immigration of Jews from around the world to Israel can be seen as the fulfillment of this promise.
• Ezekiel 38-39, the defeat of Gog and Magog. A coalition of nations led by Gog will be defeated on the mountains of Israel (1967 war?). Gog, in a literal-historical understanding, is thought to be Russia, and Magog is Iran (Persia). One could add that the USSR's legacy of supporting Islamo-Marxist Iran has continued through support by Communist China, making it Gog.
• Ezekiel 40–44 is a prophecy of the Third Temple.
• Ezekiel 36:35 says, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden." Zionists turned a wasteland into a productive exporter of food.
• God promises the land of Israel (originally Canaan) to the Jewish people as an "everlasting possession" in Genesis 17:8, as part of the covenant with Abraham. This is also in Genesis 13:15, Genesis 48:4, and 1 Chronicles 16:15–18. This is to be taken literally, not as a spiritual metaphor.
• God does not revoke His promises. God's faithfulness to Israel has continued despite frequent examples of lack of faith in Bible stories. Why should today be different?
• The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12, 15, 17) says God's covenants are unconditional and eternal. These promises were made by God to Himself, so they cannot be broken by human failure.
• God has two distinct but related plans. One plan is for the Church (the body of Christ), and one is for Israel. Replacement theology confuses them.
• In Romans 11:1, Paul says: "Did God reject his people? By no means!“
• Romans 11:29: "For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable". The election of Israel as a distinct nation is permanent and hasn't been transferred to the Church.
• In Ezekiel 36:24–32, God brings the people back to their own land before a spiritual cleansing occurs. This is happening now.
• In Jeremiah 31:35–37, it says that Israel will never cease to be a nation before God as long as the sun, moon, and stars exist.
• In Acts 3:21, Peter refers to "restoration of all things" as prophesied in the Torah. This includes the literal restoration of the Jewish kingdom, Israel.
• Gerald McDermott is an expert on Christian Zionism and author of two books on it. He argues that it doesn't have to rely on dispensationalism. He notes that Christian Zionism existed before dispensationalism became popular in the 19th century. Christian Zionism goes back to Jesus Himself and the prophets.
• McDermott says that God works through specific people and a specific land to achieve a universal objective. The land promise is an essential component of God’s redemptive purpose.
• The 1948 establishment of the modern State of Israel is a partial fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The New Testament should be understood as a Zionist text. Jesus should be viewed as a Jew and an Israelite.
• A literal reading of the Greek NT texts shows that the land promise is not obsolete but central to the Gospel's meaning. Gentile believers should be understood as being grafted into the existing "olive tree" (Romans 11) of the Jewish people, which maintains its distinct identity.
• Matthew 5:5 says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.“ The NT Greek word γῆ can be translated as either "earth" or "land" - so this could refer to Jews inheriting Israel. In the original Greek of Matthew 5:5, the word used is γῆν (a form of γῆ). Jesus is quoting Psalm 37, where "inheriting the land" explicitly refers to the Land of Israel. Jesus is referring to the land of Israel as part of God's redemptive plan for it.
• In Luke 21:24, we see Jesus' prophecy for Jerusalem: "Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". This is a prediction of a future time when Jews regain political power over Jerusalem. The 1967 reunification of Jerusalem could be a fulfillment of this prophecy.
• Covenantal nomism is the idea that one enters the covenant by grace but stays in it through obedience. The Jewish people are brought back by God's grace and faithfulness to His word, but they are then obligated to share the land in justice. And they do in fact share it with the Druze, with two million Arab Israeli citizens, and with Christians. The land is not just a prize, but a divine task.
• Supersessionists say that the exile from Jerusalem in 70 AD is a sign that God broke the covenant, but McDermott argues that exile is a divine discipline, not a permanent divorce. He points to the Babylonian exile as a precedent: Israel lost possession of the land because of sin, but they never lost ownership.
• If the land promise was 'spiritualized' away because of Jewish disobedience, then God’s promises are essentially 'works-based,' not based on grace. But in fact, we are not saved by works alone (a point made by Paul and amplified during the Reformation in response to the heresy of indulgences).
• If God's promises depend entirely on human obedience, then no one—including the Church—has any security.
• President Trump is sometimes compared with King Cyrus, a non-Jew who supported the Jews. Of all presidents in history, he has been the most supportive of Jews and Israel.
Todah Rabah for your post - and - please share your presentation -with as many people as possible. Replacement theology plays a large part of the genesis of antisemtism.
When I see these things that these monsters have done, I don't Think oh he's Jewish that would be absurd.
Is Andrew Jewish No.
Monsters are everywhere in Every Country. All different Religions.
A lucid, astute, precise essay, Joshua Hoffman. An important one, too. I like your writing very much, for it eases us into truth and clarity in such a way that anger and frustration at the twisted, dishonest and so frequently biassed voices around us, dissipate and become resolve and dignity instead.
Joshua, as far as I’m concerned, when people emphasize that Epstein was Jewish, it has nothing to do with facts. It’s about finding another opportunity to attack Jews or Israel. Ironically, all too often it comes from people who claim to champion progressive values. We’re constantly told that justice should be blind and that individuals shouldn’t be judged by their identity, yet that principle suddenly disappears when the person involved happens to be Jewish. Epstein was a criminal, full stop. Turning his crimes into commentary about Jews says far more about the agenda of those pushing that narrative than it does about the facts.
No was Jew, no was religious- that’s why this article no
There was a 2020 trial around Los Angeles against a Jewish woman named Rebecca Grossman. She was characterized by the media in hyper-judgmental terms. The media moralized that she was a "socialite," "an adulteress," a "felon." In 2020 she was convicted of a hit-and-run killing of two young brothers who were Jordanian. She was having an affair and while driving killed these two kids. She was guilty of the hit-and-run, but would the media have demonized her to this extent if she wasn't Jewish and the victims weren't Jordanian? This is antisemitic California, and she is currently sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. California has made excuses to let off stone-cold killers. Yet California threw the book at Rebecca Grossman. Would they have demonized her if she wasn't Jewish? Hard to imagine given their lax attitude towards so many criminal defendants.
What is tied to the Global Power Network and money is the Jewish angle that is Epstein, and then coupled with Mossad for extra punch to really get the ire of Jew haters. There is so much money being pumped from nefarious sources to not only demonize Israel, but Jews of visibility everywhere, as well as Western culture.Do we see the same interest or demand for accountability from the political parties or citizens for trafficking young girls and women by illegals, outrage at young white girls being sexually assaulted by Pakis in London? And it goes on and on. It's all a theatrical show with a Jew as the icing that helps those already anti-Semitic to have their hate reinforced, and those on the periphery to be convinced. Epstein was a sick individual who used and abused young girls and women, that is the real crime he committed, not being Jewish. Joshua's essay gives excellent points, but those who have used Epstein's Jewishness connecting it to his crime will not give thought to what he wrote. Hate doesn't allow them to think that deeply.
Agree completely. It's not an accident that many of the people demonised (and Epstein is being made out to be an Israel-sponsored villain at the centre of the entire world's problems and also a cannibal who ate babies)are Jews - Weinstein, Polanski (a Holocaust survivor), Woody Allen (who has never been charged but whose life has been wrecked). Were there no non-Jews who did these and worse things? Why doesn't anyone know their names? Madoff was demonised in the same way - as if he was the worst criminal ever.
same canards - over 200 centuries. the hate that keeps on giving,
Indeed. In the US, after a brief hiatus. https://ruthvanita452091.substack.com/p/jew-hatred-comes-out
Guys, seriously: Epstein is about kids being abused. It's not about his being Jewish.
Agreed, but it's the Jew-haters who are making the issue about his being Jewish. That's the point of the article.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm merely saying that Jewishness isn't why normal people are thinking about Epstein.
What kids?
I wish you did not go there with this one. Epstein ran with the elite and what they all did and some continue to do was horrible and vile. He almost got a pass because of his connections not his Jewishness. We still do not know all of the victims and if there are dead bodies.
That's the point the article is making. It's the antisemites who have made an issue of his being Jewish.
Robert Maxwell (escaped Nazi occupation of Czechia) - very mad, evil and father of (Epstein co conspirator) Ghislaine Maxwell - was Jewish... I blame the countries of origin. And capitalism...
I don't blame capitalism. Stop. There are communist sex traffickers and pedophiles.
I really feel in this case Power corrupts.
while you claim you are not denying how horrific his crimes were, you define them as "power, money and access and the abuse of all three." What the hell??? His "crimes" were raping and probably murdering little girls! Why on earth are you white-washing them? Because he is Jewish and a disgrace to the race? He is not a disgrace to Jewish people. He is a disgrace to humanity. Don't make light of what he did to young girls and what he masterminded others to do as well to them.
But that’s all made up
Epstein didn’t rape anybody and nobody was murdered
very sad you don't believe the credible victim testimony that got Maxwell her sentence
I don’t believe that a massage becomes “sexual abuse” just because you enjoy it or that it becomes “sex trafficking” because the massage table was shipped from California
so Maxwell was wrongly convicted then in your opinion? You are a sick individual. Again so sad you don't believe all of these young victims of sexual assault and rape.
I think it’s clear that she was scapegoated because Epstein was dead by then
oh so neither of them were guilty. You are delusional
No one was murdered.
pretty credible evidence in the files that children were killed. Bodies are turning up in NM
No there isn’t any evidence of that in the files at all
Of course not. Ditto Harvey Weinstein, Peter Mandelson, Les Wexner.. What makes it most ironic is that said “ Jews” are those who, like Soros, Reid Hoffman, Mandy Patinkin, Dustin Moskowitz, Michael Moritz, Bernie Sanders , Norm Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Noem Chomsky,Madea Benjamin, Ariel Gold, Naomi Klein, Henry Kissinger, Jill Stein, Aaron Mate, Glenn Greenwald, Dave Smith, Tom Steyer,Wallace Shaun, Norman Lear, Cynthia Nixon, Avril Haines , Jon Ben Ami, Ron Unz,Penny Pritzker, Sandor and Faye Straus, Gelman, Dan Goldman,Nathaniel ,Ariane, Lynn d’Rothschild,Ben Cohen and here’s a doozy-Steven Spielberg- have been the most instrumental in selling out Israel and the Jews.
Jeffrey EPstein hated Israel and loathed being Jewish so much that he colluded with Hamas, Iran and Iraq and was in the process of converting to Islam just prior to going to prison.
All for naught. Had the psycho Jew haters known what Epstein was engaged in that was his real purpose, they’d have fought for him to be freed and Epstein statues and murals would be displayed in Times Square and the philadelphia Al Aqsa mosque