Rabbi Tuvia Singer: How Missionaries use "Sefer Daniel 9:1-24

B"H

Last Sunday, at his second session, Rabbi Tuvia Singer described how the church twisted The verses in the Book of Daniel (Sefer Daniel) 9:1 - 24.

I have to say that I sometimes cannot follow his lectures because as soon as Christian ideas or interpretations are being described, I am completely lost. It just doesn't get into my head that people can be that ignorant to believe what the church is selling them. Ordinary people who have never seen an original copy of a Torah or the Prophets.

Tuvia Singer pointed out that the "Book of Matthew" was written by different authors and the quotations Matthew brings from the Torah are mostly changed.

Those Jews living in the Babylonian exile were not exposed to Christianity. After many years, the Torah copies of those Jews, Yemenite Jews and European Jewry were compared and Rabbis found out that hardly any differences have appeared. Meaning there were only very few changes in the spelling. Everything else was the same although the Jews from Europe and, for instance, Yemen were not at all in touch. This, however, is a proof that the Jews always kept the original version of the Torah and never made changes. But look at the Christian world where you have hundreds of different translations and interpretations. How can there be any true meaning in their scriptures ?

In his second lecture of a whole series, Tuvia Singer particularly referred to the Book of Daniel 9: 1 - 24 and pointed out how the church uses it for its evil purposes.

Please note beforehand that the word "Meshiach" only appears a very few times times in the Torah. Mainly in Vayikra (Leviticus) describing the Cohanim being anointed.
Rabbi Tuvia Singer said that if we went back with a time machine and met some people from the Temple periods, they wouldn't know what we are talking about in case we were telling them about our understanding of Meshiach. In those days, Meshiach had a complete different implication and the concept we know today, didn't really exist. Hundreds of people were anointed then and for the people "Meshiach" simply meant someone anointed.

In Daniel 9:24 it says:

"Seventy weeks have been decreed upon your people and your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies".

Tuvia Singer stated that " weeks" here means YEARS !
One week stands for 7 years. Thus, those seventy years mentioned are really 490 years. The source that "weeks" stands for "years" is to be found in II Chronicles 36:21 - 23. The "Seventy Weeks" refer to the Shmittah years. The "Mezudat David" commentates to Daniel 9:24: The seven Shemittot make up the number 490 years. The Babylonian exile lasted 70 years and the Second Temple stood for 420 years. Also Rabbi Saadia Gaon referred to those weeks as years (see commentary of Ibn Ezra to Daniel 9:24).

In his handout, Tuvia Singer writes:

"7 Weeks (of years) - The angel Gabriel reassured Daniel that after a full "7 weeks", or 49 years had passed - counting from "the going forth of the WORD (DAVAR), which is from the destruction of Jerusalem (9:2) - an anointed ruler would enable the Jewish people to return and rebuild Jerusalem (9:25). Indeed, a short time after 49 years had passed, Cyrus, who G - d declared as His "anointed one", (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 45:1), gave the orders to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the holy sanctuary (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 44:28 - 45:1, 13); Ezra 1:2 - 3; II Chronicles 36:22 - 23).

In Daniel 9:25, the Hebrew original text refers to AN ANOINTED PRINCE whereas the Christian King James Version writes about THE MESHIACH. Here the prophecy is referring to Koresh, the Persian King (see Rashi on Daniel).

Somehow the Christians see in this verse their false Meshiach J. but I don't understand how. The time the text is referring to has nothing to do with the time of J. !

Yesterday I went to the Israeli anti – missionary organization in order to investigate some issues. Someone there told me that Christians love to quote from the Talmud but don't even believe in the oral law. They just take some quotes out of context in order to use it against the Jews. If you don't believe in the oral law, so don't quote from it and don't twist it !

Furthermore, Christians only look at the Peshat in Torah; at the simple meaning. In Judaism, we look at the whole Pardes: 1. Peshat, 2. Drash (interpretation), 3. Remez (hint, what does it say between the lines) and 4. the Sod (secret, hidden meaning of a text).

Christians however look at a simple meaning and relate it to their own thoughts and make ups. Thus, they don't see the real meaning but understand the entire Tanach wrong.