Hi Shalom82,
There were infact two semi-amusing incidents in Yel Aviv. The first was with a Christian Fellowship who got very upset with me because I refused to call myself I Christian. I am not a Christian, have not ever been a Christian and will not ever be a Christian. I am Jewish primarily because I have been graphted on to the tree through the gift of Salvation and sacrifice by my living saviour Yehoshua HaMashiakh - (just in case there was any doubt) - and secondarily by man's rules of descent through a Jewish mother.
The second run in was with a rather evangelistic young lady who within 5 minutes of meeting me and finding out that I am Jewish did her best to convert and 'complete' me. Personally I find the term 'Completed Jew' rather distateful and this poor ,well meaning young lady actually used this term - aaaaaahhhhh - when she hit me with the full force of her patronising churchianity and told me that if I believed in Jesus and became a Chritian and came to her Church all my sins would be forgiven. I feel a bit ashamed of myself because I was a bit cruel, but unfortunately many of the 'evangelists' out here are here in there own righteousness, and it shows. I found out that she had attended a Missionary school and had taken courses on how to Evangelise. I informed her that she was wasting her time and money and pointed out that Paul only ever went to school to learn why to stone the followers of the Messiah, evangelist are appointed by the Ruarch Khodesh and not by the self-righteous, dog-collared, puffed up tramps who masquerade around preaching good works and keeping a tally of the number of converts THEY PERSONALLY have 'saved'. OK, so I was actually a bit kinder than that, but I don't think it clicked that she was 'preaching to the choir' at any point during our little chat.
I have a big problem who those who Evangelise in their own righteousness, I came to a belief in YHWH and his son Yehoshua through what THEY revealed to me, not through what a man revealed to me. YHWH is willing to use a donkey to tell his bidding when we listen, but it has to be HIS bidding. There is no point going off half cocked using our own knowledge of good and evil, for that is described as filthy rags is it not? At the same time, it is obvious when you come across a true RK appointed evangelist, for them, the Word is more important than the conquest and they tend to affront you with the truth, not irritate you with leaven.
As for 'converting', I do not subscribe to any sect, branch, denomination or whatnot of Messianic worship. I fully intent to 'stand fast in the liberty with which the Mashiakh has set me free', to bind myself and shackle myself to another set of man made shibboleths (my previous set being humanist principles) would be spitting in the face of Yehoshua who went through horrific pain and suffering to take upon himself my sin. It would be grossly inaccurate to say that I am without man made shibboleths/religion, however I wish to be transformed and not conformed, so if it is not in the Tanakh/RT, I'm not interested, and attaching a label or a set of strictures upon myself would be just that. Anyway, if I try to change myself it will be like (please excuse the crudity, but I can't think of a better analogy) p*ssing into the wind, pointless and smelly - a bit like filthy rags. I need to hand myself over to YHWH to change me according to HIS righteousness, and then anything that I should be doing that I am not doing now will BE the result of a transformation not conformation.
As for the Chasidim, so far I believe that they are stuck firmly in their rut. I have not heard of any of them here in Arad breaking free from their self-imposed bondage. I trust in YHWH and that he has bought me here for a reason, but I do not want to forge ahead without him, he is afterall YHWH and anything I can do, he can do better. I am 100% sure that when the time is right for him and for Yehoshua, the scales will fall from their eyes and they will turn their faces back to him - he tells us they will, and it is not for me to hurry him along.
I have just looked at how much I have written, I didn't mean to! In closing, something that has become very clear to me in my travels is that if we do not do things accourding to Yehoshua's time, and righteousness, we screw up. I know I will do this many times, but at least I am now aware that this is something I need to submit (not in the Islamic sense) to YHWH and Yehoshua that they may change and replace my knowledge with their own. I also remember that it was his agape that has allowed me to be here, and that it is His agape that will bring his people back to him, no my filio.
Does any of that answe your question?
Shalom and agape, I am overjoyed to have found you all.