Lina's back!!!!

[Witsec1]

I have major problems breaking links. Let me pm it to you and you can post it broken. TY

Here's the link: eliyah.com/cgi-bin/fellowship/fellowship.cgi?category=1&item=1262728286

It looks more like a personal ad that Lina placed on this website. Is this how TT found her? The contact address of the site is in Ava, MO- isn't he from MO?

[defrauding]

Lina posted her most recent FB status update today on their joint page:

This has me scratching my head, since Tashlich is only done on Rosh Hashanah . . . which ended Friday evening.

The first day of Rosh Hashanah is the most common day for it, but you have until the last day of Sukkot.

On the other hand, writing "sh'vuah" betrays her Hebrew illiteracy.

[julie]

I'm on my dumb itouch and can't follow the link... Can someone post what the ad says? Gracias!

[pomology]

The first day of Rosh Hashanah is the most common day for it, but you have until the last day of Sukkot.

On the other hand, writing "sh'vuah" betrays her Hebrew illiteracy.

Not to mention "HaShanah tovah"

Learn your Hebrew prepositions better, kthx, Lina. Love, Pomology.

[Witsec1]

I'm on my dumb itouch and can't follow the link... Can someone post what the ad says? Gracias!

Here ya go:

Username: Lina

Location: Austin, TX, USA

Ad Last Modified: January 05, 2010

Especially Interested in:

Willing to travel:

Website URL: http://asetapartlife.blogspot.com/

Name or Organization Name: Lina

Description of spiritual understandings, background, affiliation, etc. (HTML Allowed): Shalom,

I am a young woman interested in finding fellowship with other like-minded Torah-observant believers, preferably female believers. Currently, the only fellowship I have is online. Please feel free to browse through my blog in order to find out more about me and my beliefs.

Yahveh bless!

[TheJewAmongUs]

She probably thinks Messianic Judaism is real Judaism and that those of us "born that way" aren't fully enlightened. :pray:

[Patsy]

I love the phrase 'Jews for Judaism'. Mentioned it to my sister and she was equally delighted.

Being Australian, I don't think I need to explain what comes to mind with the name 'Azariah'. I am aware that it was kind of a patched together Adventist name the Chamberlains used, and that it is more masculine, but... yeah. Still what comes to mind. I'm guessing that's Anthony's Hebrew name? Don't even, you know, real Jews only use their Hebrew name for ceremony?

[Vex]

Interestingly, you can no longer Google "set apart life blog" and get a link to her (that's how I used to find it). Gotta go direct. Also, I can't get a feed from it for my Google reader.

Sigh. I hate it when the fundies make it inconvenient for me to read their blather.

That's what I was going to post.

She's going to some interesting lengths to become private. I smell interference from Love and his freshly-washed underoos.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Ahahahahahah, win. What an absolutely spectacular post.

I'm emailing her now, lauding her wonderful entry. I'm so glad she did this. IT NEEDED TO BE DONE.

[FaustianSlip]

Good for Kochava! I had a hunch that she'd post about Lina again... and that her earlier post was a deliberate response to Lina's schtick. I don't blame her for being pissed, incidentally; I'm pissed for many of the same reasons she is.

I don't think for a second that Lina has abandoned the Jesus stuff; I think she's trying to scrub her blog in order to make it easier to dupe a rabbi into converting her. Dollars to donuts, she's been reading everything that's been said about how any rabbi who looked at her blog would probably laugh her out of his office. Now she's freaked out, and she's trying to go back and cover her toches so that she doesn't get weeded out of the conversion process before she even gets through the synagogue door. Problem is, even if she does start omitting references to Yeshua, her blog is still Christiany enough to read very weirdly to an actual Jewish person. For instance, how many Jews (of any denomination) do you know that quote Pat Robertson on their blog sidebar? 'Cause I don't know any.

[Vex]

Good point. Post edited.

[FaustianSlip]

Indeed, though I didn't want to post too many specifics; to my mind, it's just giving her better information on how she needs to scrub her blog if she wants to slip under the radar in the local Jewish community. No point in making it easier for her.

[VVV]

Haven't read all the posts, so I apologize if someone else beat me to this. One of the blogs that Lina links to has this as its current post: crazyjewishconvert.blogspot.com/2011/10/do-not-read-blog-set-apart-life.html :lol:

[ilovetchotchkes]

Good for Kochava! I had a hunch that she'd post about Lina again... and that her earlier post was a deliberate response to Lina's schtick. I don't blame her for being pissed, incidentally; I'm pissed for many of the same reasons she is.

I don't think for a second that Lina has abandoned the Jesus stuff; I think she's trying to scrub her blog in order to make it easier to dupe a rabbi into converting her. I think she's trying to scrub her blog in order to make it easier to dupe a rabbi into converting her. Dollars to donuts, she's been reading everything that's been said about how any rabbi who looked at her blog would probably laugh her out of his office. Now she's freaked out, and she's trying to go back and cover her toches so that she doesn't get weeded out of the conversion process before she even gets through the synagogue door. Problem is, even if she does start omitting references to Yeshua, her blog is still Christiany enough to read very weirdly to an actual Jewish person. For instance, how many Jews (of any denomination) do you know that quote Pat Robertson on their blog sidebar? 'Cause I don't know any.

Ding ding ding! I think we have a winner!

[FaustianSlip]

This, incidentally, is one reason why I wasn't completely opposed to the idea of alerting someone in Lina's area to her blog. I think she's flighty, but I don't think she's completely stupid (and neither is Tony). She may not have considered the possibility that a beit din or rabbi would check out her blog before, but she has now, and she's editing away. I wouldn't be surprised if older posts that heavily referenced Yeshua suddenly started disappearing or going private, as well. Lina is manipulative and deceptive; it's one of the reasons she makes me so angry. It's one thing to have the best of intentions and just be clueless, but she's had it explained to her, repeatedly, why it's so offensive to blithely talk about faking her way through a conversion, et cetera. She's not clueless; she just doesn't care, because she wants what she wants, and screw the Jewish community that she claims to want to be a part of so badly.

That said, I think what Kochava's doing is really smart. The Jewish blogosphere, particularly the Jewish convert blogosphere, isn't that big, and there's a lot of overlap in readership between blogs. I'm sure there are at least a few other converts of various denominations in Lina's area, and the odds of them stumbling upon either Lina or Kochava's blog aren't terrible. Could be mighty awkward for Lina to show up at Shabbat services somewhere and have someone go, "Oh, I've read your blog!"

[defrauding]

Could be mighty awkward for Lina to show up at Shabbat services somewhere and have someone go, "Oh, I've read your blog!"

"You said 'Lina Dodd'... wait... Paulina Dodd? Aren't you the one trying to worm your way into the Jewish community here so you and your husband AJ Dodd can tell us all about Yeshua?"

[Deleted03]

well although I think this person has the right to be mad, I find it incredibly childish to post this without even talking to Lina about her beliefs, and just going to bash her in a post. Maybe they're both 20 and that's why they did that, but still, for all her talk about honesty, I really don't find this post as a high road.

[pomology]

well although I think this person has the right to be mad, I find it incredibly childish to post this without even talking to Lina about her beliefs, and just going to bash her in a post. Maybe they're both 20 and that's why they did that, but still, for all her talk about honesty, I really don't find this post as a high road.

Here's something that Kochava did in her next post that I think explains exactly why she acted the way she did and frankly, when I'm as mad as she is, I find it hard not to be childish and passive aggressive.

She says, "You're the ones who are causing today's orthodox conversion process to be hellish. Sincere Jewish neshamas who actually want to affiliate with the Jewish people are pushed and pushed and pushed away because "Hebrew Christians" hide their motives and lie to rabbis in order to secure conversions, and you know, make aliyah to Israel."

What Lina and others are doing has a huge effect on her life. I 100$ agree with what she is saying. If somebody like Lina linked to my non-existent blog, it would drive me up a wall. Yes, maybe Kochava could have talked to Lina personally first, and maybe that is what she should have done, but I don't blame her for not doing so.

And that nickidewbear person really has chutzpah to say that Kochava is "ethnically gentile." As if being "ethnically Jewish" was even a thing and even born-Jews didn't come from a wide variety of ethnicities. I'm ethnically Ashkenazi, which I think is a fair statement to make because even though my ancestors came from Poland and Ukraine they were definitely NOT ethnically Polish and ethnically Ukrainian. So if I'm not ethnically Ashkenazi, I don't have an ethnicity. But I'm not "ethnically Jewish" either.

[Beeks]

well although I think this person has the right to be mad, I find it incredibly childish to post this without even talking to Lina about her beliefs, and just going to bash her in a post. Maybe they're both 20 and that's why they did that, but still, for all her talk about honesty, I really don't find this post as a high road.

I think she has removed some other orthodox blogs she used to link to and I have a feeling it's because she was asked to remove them. I wonder if Chavi has asked her to remove her link.

[longskirts]

Beeks, which Orthodox blogs has she removed? Because she has many Orthodox ones in her list currently--I've never noticed any taken off, except for Kochava's after her "Jesus is not the Messiah" post.

[FaustianSlip]

She says, "You're the ones who are causing today's orthodox conversion process to be hellish. Sincere Jewish neshamas who actually want to affiliate with the Jewish people are pushed and pushed and pushed away because "Hebrew Christians" hide their motives and lie to rabbis in order to secure conversions, and you know, make aliyah to Israel."

This, this, this. I actually agree with pretty much all of what Pomology said, but I'm just quoting this for the sake of brevity. First of all, Kochava (and other Orthodox converts) has a really long, hard row to hoe with regard to conversion, a road that has gotten considerably rougher and more adversarial in the last five years or so. I don't know of any rabbi, of any denomination, who will convert people with less than a year of Jewish study and observance as a general practice. In the case of Orthodox conversions, a lot of them take anything from two to five years. The amount of time to conversion has gradually increased, as has the pressure put on Orthodox converts to adopt increasingly haredi styles of practice, along with the possibility of a conversion being revoked years after the fact for relatively minor lapses in the practice of someone who was completely sincere at the time of conversion. A huge part of the reasons for the increasingly unpleasant nature of Orthodox conversion has to do with a paranoia that's present in a lot of Orthodox circles regarding the sincerity of converts. Now, some of the blame is on the communities that allow this paranoia to push them to the point of turning the conversion process from stringent to bullying, certainly, but a lot of the blame also belongs to people who convert for ulterior motives and without any intention of living an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle; that is to say, people like Lina.

I might have some sympathy for Lina here in terms of what Sophie's talking about, but here's the thing. We don't know, first of all, that Kochava didn't ask Lina to spell out her beliefs. Problem is, even if she did, I suspect she didn't get a straight answer. People have been asking Lina, in very clear but not bullying language, to explain, specifically, how she plans to convert under Orthodox auspices when she still believes that Jesus was the Messiah or, if she no longer believes that Jesus was the Messiah, to come out and say so. After that one post where she made a point of saying in the comments that she would never stop believing that Jesus was the Messiah, Lina has since been extremely evasive about answering any questions pertaining to her views on Jesus. She dances around the subject, conveniently ignoring any questions that come up, be they from skeptical, Jewish readers or from Messianic "friends" who seem concerned that she's at risk for abandoning the whole Jesus thing in the course of her love affair with Judaism (or, more precisely, with what she perceives Judaism to be). Lina has had a lot of opportunities to explain exactly where she stands on the issue, and she has declined to do so. That's her prerogative, of course, but the rest of us are equally entitled to look at that behavior, coupled with the abundance of Christianspeak and Christian links that have peppered her blog until very, very recently (and, in some cases, still pepper her blog), the fact that the Facebook pages belonging to her and her husband have links to known Messianic groups, along with her stated intent to convert to Judaism while maintaining her beliefs regarding Jesus and draw the logical conclusion that she's trying to scrub away evidence in case a rabbi checks out her blog. Perhaps this isn't very charitable behavior, but I think when you've asked someone repeatedly and in a straightforward fashion to clarify their position and are either repeatedly ignored or the person dances around the issue, you've done your due diligence.

Also, Kochava made it very clear, without specifically referring to Lina's blog, exactly where she stood on the Yeshua issue back when she initially posted about how you can't believe that Jesus is the Messiah and expect to be able to convert to Judaism (at least, not if you're being honest with your rabbi and community). She didn't name names, she wasn't nasty at all. Lina yanked the link, then waited until the offending post disappeared, then replaced the link on her site. More fool her, I say. She knows that she's posting a link to a blog whose author completely disagrees with what she's doing, and she opted to keep the link up. That's her own decision.

I also suspect that Kochava may have spoken to Lina, but is refraining from commenting on that specifically because it could/would be a violation of lashon hora (basically, rules against gossip). The post that she made doesn't fall under this category, I don't think, because it's a case of removing a stumbling blog from in front of the blind; that is, warning the greater community of something that could affect them in a negative way, or lead astray people who genuinely want to convert to mainline Judaism. Relating explicit details of any correspondence with Lina, however, probably would be a violation.

If it sounds like I'm trying to give Kochava the benefit of the doubt here, that's because I am. I'm admittedly biased when it comes to this subject, but in looking at the two bloggers, Kochava has always been very straightforward about her status, her opinions and the fact that while she writes about conversion, she's not a halachic authority. In some cases, she's been more upfront (certainly about her identity) than I would ever choose to be. Lina, by contrast, has always struck me as extremely evasive, particularly with regard to the Yeshua question interested only in doing what she wants to do and has stated outright that she's prepared to lie to a rabbi in order to get what she wants (namely, a "real" Jewish conversion). Also, from an Orthodox conversion standpoint, Kochava's conversion status could be put in jeopardy were a rabbi to spot her blog linked on Lina's page. It could throw her motives into question and terminate her entire process, and from that perspective, I absolutely understand if she felt it necessary to post a clear, unequivocal condemnation of Lina's views. I also don't see her doing something like that without running it by a rabbi first, based on what I've read of her blog; her middos have always struck me as pretty solid.

[Deleted03]

Yes maybe I'm accusing her too fast. Still, you'd expect something like: I asked her to remove my blog, she does not want to so I am forced to go down that road. And not oh look she's a missionary and cunning boycott her! Or I talked to her and she refused to deny Jeshua, etc, etc

She may not be gossiping, but she certainly is not doing something "right". And maybe the rabbi agreed on that... I don't think rabbi are above gossip or childish gestures either, we're all humans and we all fail at times.

I made the same comment on her post, let's see if she is going to publish it and answer!

[Beeks]

Beeks, which Orthodox blogs has she removed? Because she has many Orthodox ones in her list currently--I've never noticed any taken off, except for Kochava's after her "Jesus is not the Messiah" post.

Didn't she used to link to Out of the Ortho-Box? I could be remembering wrong

[FaustianSlip]

Like I said, I'm biased on this one. Lina has rubbed me the wrong way for a long time now, I'm a convert and naturally sympathize with Kochava's position (though I don't agree with her on anything, not least because I'm not of the Orthodox persuasion), and it infuriates me when I think of Lina and Tony trying to lie their way into the Jewish community with ulterior motives. I do think Lina is scrubbing her blog not because she no longer thinks that Jesus is the Messiah, but because she and Tony are getting ready to contact a rabbi (or have already done so) and are trying to make their blog more kosher in the event that he checks it out. If Lina had been forthcoming when asked previously about her beliefs and hadn't said already that she fully intends to convert to Judaism while maintaining her beliefs about Jesus, then I would agree that Kochava is being hasty. But if Lina's trying to go under the radar and claim she's a Jewish convert when she's not in the eyes of any Jewish denomination... that's not cool.

And frankly, Lina is a missionary. So is Tony. They're both heavily involved with Messianic groups whose sole reason for being is to missionize to the unbelieving masses, particularly Jews. Lina had links up to these groups on her blog in the past, and so far as I know, their Facebook pages still indicate their relationship with these groups. If she's planning to insinuate herself into the Jewish and convert community in order to proselytize, which I think she is, I'm inclined to agree with Kochava that warning the community is entirely appropriate (and perhaps even required, halachically speaking).

Also, it really skeeves me out that now she's claiming that she and her husband are "converts" to Judaism. They're not. Neither has gone through a formal conversion process by any movement of Judaism, neither would be considered Jewish by any of the mainline denominations, and neither is actually Jewish. They're conversion candidates at present, if that, and there's no way they don't know that (certainly not if Lina's reading blogs like Kochava's). It's misleading to claim otherwise, and to me, it looks like they're behaving that way deliberately. As someone who busted her ass to be Jewish and knows a lot of people in the same boat, it grinds my gears to see someone claiming to be Jewish when she's just not. It's really inappropriate, IMHO, and particularly coupled with her questionable views regarding Jesus, it makes all converts look sketchy and disingenuous by extension. Just another example of how Lina doesn't really seem to care too much about who she hurts in that Jewish community with which she's so in love, so long as she gets to continue playacting and eventually gets to be a "real" Jew. Ugh.

[MaroonMandy]

Did anyone else notice that under "Contributors" Azariah is now listed?