The second day of the twelfth month in the 2728th year of our dispersion.

I think it was in the book Unintended Consequences that I read about the strategy of adopting your opponent's phraseology as your own - to describe an opposite point of view. Usually it is more insidious and less obvious than Orwell's "Ministries" of Truth, Love, Plenty, and Peace.

For example: a Patriot in this country might be considered someone who supports the current government, with its oppresive legislation and taxation, its unabashed rape of constitutional rights, and its lust for money and power. Speaking poorly of the State is Unpatriotic. There are a lot of people who think this way - oppose the State and you oppose the Nation. Of course a Patriot is exactly the opposite. A Patriot opposes the State for the sake of the Nation. And plenty of people realize this. Patriots are the State's natural enemy. But you won't hear the State calling them Patriots. It has to appropriate the word for its own uses because it has a strong positive image in the mind of the populace.

In fact, what if an armed rebellion began in our own country? What if they refused to tolerate any more of our federal government's usurpation of our rights and their confiscation of our property? It would be unforgivable. The resulting conflict would hardly be conventional warfare. In fact, it might resemble the great Rebellion of our own country, against the Crown, in the eighteenth century. Whatever unconventional tactics were used by the Patriots may even be classified as "Terrorism." It doesn't have to be true, it just has to polarize people. The media would win that war all by themselves. People believe what they see on television. That's the sad truth.

Ignorance is said to be bliss. I don't know how much I would disagree with that statement. The more I learn about the state of the world today, the worse it looks and the worse I feel about it. Is the current political juggernaut beyond repair? Will it willingly dismember itself for the sake of its constituents? How and when will the power be returned to the people?

I have been speculating as to the nature of Yeshua's teachings. Perhaps he saw what was coming and gave us the tools to properly deal with it. People think that Yeshua is revealing basic fundamental precepts which underlie the Torah. I don't think this is true. Those precepts are contained within the Torah itself: Love יהוה with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. What if Yeshua is taking the principles of the Torah and applying them to the Diaspora? Surely he saw it coming. From that point on יהוה's people would always be living in bondage to another country, unable to fulfill all of the ordinances of the Torah.

So, in the Torah, seeking justice is preferred. But in a society where no one else is observing Torah, the justice system will not work to the advantage of the poor man. In this case would it be better to let yourself be wronged and let יהוה be your avenger? For example, in the Torah, if someone steals, he is to give back what he stole plus a fifth. But if my hypothesis is correct, in a society where the Torah is shunned, you are to let the man have what he stole and even offer more. יהוה wields the scepter of justice and will personally repay the wronged man.

In the Torah, it is best to get married and have many children. But under certain circumstances - if your Torah observant movement is in danger of being wiped out by an overly zealous State, for example - it is better to remain single. After all, if you are going to be kidnapped and tortured, it is far better if you don't have a wife for them to kidnap and torture as well. I would certainly imagine that I would have a better time of it.

In the Torah, the death penalty is invoked for certain crimes (elsewhere, in Ezekiel, even for usury takers). But in America we cannot stone a member of our congregation. So we confront them Biblically and if they do not eventually respond we remove the leaven.

I don't know how accurate this turns out to be but I think it's an interesting thought.