Lina's back!!!!

[Beeks]

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

Yeah, he's done some (obnoxious, condescending, idiotic) posts on her blog. I hope her does more.

[Dinorah]

Kochava's post was great. I'm wondering how Lina will react to it. I always found it very ironic she featured a link to her blog and to Chaviva.

One of Kochava's commenters also pointed out that for Jewish standards (or for those of any religion, probably) Lina and Tony aren't married and are basically having premarital sex after all this fuss about shomer negiah and whatnot.

Lina no longer mentions "Yehusha" but there are still the archives, not to mention all the links to Christian fundie resourcres.

[Witsec1]

She just updated while sipping an iced green tea latte from Starbucks. Is that a good use of your Love's hard-earned money, Mrs. Lina D?

Head-covering has a deep kabbalistic meaning, and Love's boss is Orthodox, so he works every day but Jewish holidays.

Here is the About Us page from Love's work: ebookarchitects.com/about/index.php

I clicked on the CEO's twitter feed that is on there and he describes himself as "Torah-observant Messianic".

ETA: So it's clear that when Lina says "Orthodox" she means either Orthodox as in Jew or Torah Observant Messianic - she makes no distinction.

[Guest Anonymous]

Well kidooos I just got this in my inbox.

Paulina Prieto to me

show details 10:06 AM (19 minutes ago)

Hi Amil,

We will be converting via an Orthodox rabbi. My blog has references to christian writings because I was a christian before embracing Judaism.

Thanks for your e-mail!

-Lina

On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Amil Zola wrote:

And I was wondering if you could be kind enough to clarify something for me. You mentioned that you and your spouse will be converting to Judiasm. I was wondering if you are converting via an Orthodox Rabbi, Conservative or Reformed? Also I'm a little bit confused about your conversion since your blog has lots of references to Christian writings. Will this change after your conversion? Will you begin to cite more Jewish blogs and references?

Once again thank you so much for blogging. I really enjoy reading your blog, and following you through this exciting period of your life.

Sincerely,

Amil

[Witsec1]

Can you ask her if she and Tony have changed their minds from when he wrote this post: http://asetapartlife.blogspot.com/2011/ ... intro.html

Will they be announcing that they no longer believe Yeshua is the Messiah?

[Nurse Jenna]

Just found this orthodox Jewish blog the writer of which and the comenters really take Lina to task http://crazyjewishconvert.blogspot.com/ ... -life.html

[Guest Anonymous]

Can you ask her if she and Tony have changed their minds from when he wrote this post: http://asetapartlife.blogspot.com/2011/ ... intro.html

Will they be announcing that they no longer believe Yeshua is the Messiah?

Actually I just replied to her Flora, and that was a question I asked. Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to rub her nose in it :D I told her that the Beit Din at my conversion were adamant that I renounce xtianity, even though my family was historically Jewish.

I'm on the run in a bit, but I will certainly keep FJ up to date.

[Dinorah]

I don't think what Kochava did is wrong. Questioning Lina's beliefs wouldn't be much use because she's always been very good at eluding the hard questions concerning Judaism vs. Christianity.I can also understand how frustrated Kochava might be seeing someone who supposedly reads her blog and apparently has no clue whatconversion to Judaism is all about, especially after the more indirect "what all branches of Judaism can agree on" post. And, once again, Lina's blog is public material, hence liable to be commented or criticized.

[longskirts]

Is her soy green tea latte kosher? Not all Starbucks products are.

[Beeks]

Actually I just replied to her Flora, and that was a question I asked. Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to rub her nose in it :D I told her that the Beit Din at my conversion were adamant that I renounce xtianity, even though my family was historically Jewish.

I'm on the run in a bit, but I will certainly keep FJ up to date.

Here's what I'm thinking - Lina says TT's boss is "orthodox" but TT works for a messianic organization, right? So maybe she is converting with an orthodox MESSIANIC rabbi, not a real orthodox rabbi.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm late to this game Beeks, and Lina is starting to consume me. I don't know a whole lot of this back story. But she definitely irks me with her contradictions. I find her very insulting. If I were still a practicing Jew I'd be livid. For now she is one of my unhealthy preoccupations in the world of fundyness.

[Witsec1]

TT actually works for an e-book publisher now. I put the link to the company about page, with the staff bios in my previous post.

ebookarchitects.com/about/index.php

If you click on the CEO's twitter feed, it describes him as a Torah-observant Messianic. Which is clear. No one who cares about the distinction between faux Judaism and real Judaism could be taken in by that.

TT's bio on that page is

AJ Dodd

eBook Architect

AJ is a Judaism practicing Harley-Davidson riding eBook developer. He loves creating well designed and well scripted eBooks at work, and is excited to see the eBook world continue to grow and expand. In his spare time he likes to study Jewish literature, work out, go running with his beautiful future wife, and many similar activities. He looks forward to converting your plain old paperback into an exciting, new, colorful, awesome eBook!

Nothing about Yeshua or Messianic anything. Same with Lina's new About Us. If it was a Messianic conversion, she could be clear about it. So either she's going for the real deal, or she's playing games.

[SweetTexasCrude]

TT actually works for an e-book publisher now. I put the link to the company about page, with the staff bios in my previous post.

ebookarchitects.com/about/index.php

If you click on the CEO's twitter feed, it describes him as a Torah-observant Messianic. Which is clear. No one who cares about the distinction between faux Judaism and real Judaism could be taken in by that.

Here's the CEO's website: fourquestions.us

In the section on Judaism it's clear that he's Messianic and that to him Messianic=Jewish, not Christian.

[Beeks]

Here's the CEO's website: fourquestions.us

In the section on Judaism it's clear that he's Messianic and that to him Messianic=Jewish, not Christian.

I don't understand why Lina doesn't just come out and say she's messianic and converting with a messianic rabbit if that's the case. It would lessen a lot of the anger around here.

Don't get me wrong, messianic Jews rub me the wrong way, but Lina and her deliberate hiding of the truth is a lot worse, imo

[Guest Anonymous]

"messianic rabbit" - maybe she's going to be converted by the Easter Bunny? Sorry to poke fun, but that was the best riffle/typo....

Before FJ I'd never heard of Messianic Jews beyond Jews for Jesus.....I know it appears more complicated to some - like Lina apparently - but my uneducated understanding was that a belief in Jesus as Christ automatically made you Christian

[Witsec1]

The Orthodox boss does not claim to be Orthodox:

So, does your observance level mean that you are Orthodox?

No. It means that I am Messianic. This is something that we are going to have to get past soon in the Messianic movement. The longer we define ourselves in light of the other expressions of Judaism, the longer it is going to take us to stabilize what “Messianic Judaism†means. This “definition†of who we are, based on our own lifestyle and halacha instead of on the practices of other Jewish movements, is necessary if we are going to combat the teachings of groups like the ones that I spoke of before. You don’t see the other Jewish movements defining themselves based on everyone else. On the contrary, they go back to the Torah, the Talmud, the midrashim, and the traditions and they base their halacha and their minchagim on their understanding of these sources. That is the Jewish way.

fourquestions.us/judaism/messianic/faq.php

OK, you may disagree that Messianic Judaism is authentically an "expression" of Judaism like other traditions, but it is clear that he sees a distinction and is not trying to fool anyone.

[MaroonMandy]

AJ Dodd

eBook Architect

AJ is a Judaism practicing Harley-Davidson riding eBook developer. He loves creating well designed and well scripted eBooks at work, and is excited to see the eBook world continue to grow and expand. In his spare time he likes to study Jewish literature, work out, go running with his beautiful future wife, and many similar activities. He looks forward to converting your plain old paperback into an exciting, new, colorful, awesome eBook!

I know they're just converting books, but the poor grammar in the bio is killing me. I wouldn't let them near my work. Use a hyphen, folks!

Edited because I'm totally off my game today.

[bea]

Lina's aware that the Kabbalah and Judaism are different things, right? RIGHT?

Otherwise I anticipate a whole raft of fascinating posts telling us ALL ABOUT Kabbalism. :roll:

They're either converting to Orthodox Messianic Judaism (which - what, seriously, what the hell is that, even? and who sets the standards for it?), or lying about their beliefs in order to go through a Jewish Orthodox conversion.

The one thing that gives me hope is that there is NO GODDAMNED WAY Tony and Lina are clever enough to fake Judaism through the entire conversion process. My vote is that Tony's boss is going to "convert" them to his particular brand of "Orthodox Messianic Judaism" and then they'll be :roll: "Jewish."

[onlyorganic]

I guarantee that by the holidays, we'll have a pregnancy announcement. And yes, sitting at home, cleaning an apartment... I live with my husband in an apartment and it takes about 1 hour to clean the whole thing, including a scrub on the kitchen and bathroom. I can't imagine how boring that life would be. She seems so lazy.

[masagoroll]

Do you think that maybe she really doesn't believe in Jesus anymore?

[ilovetchotchkes]

Is her soy green tea latte kosher? Not all Starbucks products are.

If you are keeping strict kosher? Probably not. Here's why:

Starbucks serves those meat sandwiches w ham and bacon. The dishes are all washed in the same sink. From my understanding of kashrut laws (and I am by no means an expert) that would make it a no go. I think the plain, black coffee is ok as the equipment is cleaned separately. If its iced the answer may be different. I can email my orthodox friend and ask her if you guys are really that curious.

[Deleted03]

ahaha so she did not even ask her ;)

I love how they all are wondering why they get huge traffic from her blog. I would love to tell them it's probably from us or at least a good part of it :P

[FaustianSlip]

Do you think that maybe she really doesn't believe in Jesus anymore?

I don't. Notice that when she was asked directly about it, yet again, she didn't come out and say, "Before, I was a Christian, but now I no longer believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and I'm embracing Judaism." This is typical for her, and given that both she and Tony have previously stated, repeatedly and in pretty strong terms, that they'll never give up their beliefs in Jesus, I'm not going to believe she's eschewed that bit of Messianism until she comes out and says so, plainly and without further evasion. If she responds to Experienced and says, unequivocally, that she renounces the idea of Jesus as the Messiah, I might buy it, but I honestly don't think she will.

Also, check out the comments on Skylar's initial post. In what's currently the last one, the commenter says that she asked her rabbi about what to do with the whole linking issue, and her rabbi took it upon himself to e-mail Lina and ask her about her beliefs. Don't know when that occurred, but it doesn't sound like it was all that long ago. Lina replied with the stock answer that she and Tony always use: you can be an Orthodox Jew and still believe that Jesus was the Messiah. I'm sure the rabbi did what he could do disabuse her of that notion (actually, I can't help but wonder whether that, in part, is what's led her to start scrubbing her blog of Christiany clues), but she and Tony are as clueless as ever, I'm sure. The thing is, it's not like she doesn't know, at this point, that her beliefs are totally incompatible with an Orthodox Jewish conversion. She's been told by her readers, she's been told by frum bloggers and at this point, we know she's been told by an Orthodox rabbi. She's still dancing around the subject, and to me, that's deceptive. I have no sympathy for anyone who chooses to call her out as a missionary, because until the last forty-eight hours or so, that's exactly what she and Tony have been. If they've changed their position on Jesus, that's fine, but in that case, I'd say they owe it to their readership to come out, state their change in beliefs and be honest about where they stand. As it stands now, they're either misleading their Jewish readers or misleading their Christian ones, and they're doing it deliberately. Not a great way to head into Yom Kippur, IMHO.

Interestingly, Lina seems to have updated since Skylar posted, but hasn't removed the blog from her blogroll.

[pomology]

I don't. Notice that when she was asked directly about it, yet again, she didn't come out and say, "Before, I was a Christian, but now I no longer believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and I'm embracing Judaism." This is typical for her, and given that both she and Tony have previously stated, repeatedly and in pretty strong terms, that they'll never give up their beliefs in Jesus, I'm not going to believe she's eschewed that bit of Messianism until she comes out and says so, plainly and without further evasion. If she responds to Experienced and says, unequivocally, that she renounces the idea of Jesus as the Messiah, I might buy it, but I honestly don't think she will.

Also, check out the comments on Skylar's initial post. In what's currently the last one, the commenter says that she asked her rabbi about what to do with the whole linking issue, and her rabbi took it upon himself to e-mail Lina and ask her about her beliefs. Don't know when that occurred, but it doesn't sound like it was all that long ago. Lina replied with the stock answer that she and Tony always use: you can be an Orthodox Jew and still believe that Jesus was the Messiah. I'm sure the rabbi did what he could do disabuse her of that notion (actually, I can't help but wonder whether that, in part, is what's led her to start scrubbing her blog of Christiany clues), but she and Tony are as clueless as ever, I'm sure. The thing is, it's not like she doesn't know, at this point, that her beliefs are totally incompatible with an Orthodox Jewish conversion. She's been told by her readers, she's been told by frum bloggers and at this point, we know she's been told by an Orthodox rabbi. She's still dancing around the subject, and to me, that's deceptive. I have no sympathy for anyone who chooses to call her out as a missionary, because until the last forty-eight hours or so, that's exactly what she and Tony have been. If they've changed their position on Jesus, that's fine, but in that case, I'd say they owe it to their readership to come out, state their change in beliefs and be honest about where they stand. As it stands now, they're either misleading their Jewish readers or misleading their Christian ones, and they're doing it deliberately. Not a great way to head into Yom Kippur, IMHO.

Interestingly, Lina seems to have updated since Skylar posted, but hasn't removed the blog from her blogroll.

Co-Sign. Ugh, I cannot believe she told an Orthodox Rabbi of all people that she thinks Judaism is compatible with Jesus. I think Lina used to annoy me for a lot of reasons, but the one reason that has stuck is that she is so deceptive.

I think now would be the time to start warning the Batei Din in her area. Or maybe that Rabbi who corresponded with her should warn the Batei Din.

[FaustianSlip]

He may have done so already. The Orthodox world is small and close-knit, especially in a place like Texas. That's why I think Lina is scrubbing her blog; it's dawned on her, finally, that no rabbi's going to convert her with her beliefs, and that if one rabbi found her blog, another could just as easily, so... time to clean house! I know I'm not being very charitable, but I don't really see any other way to logically interpret what she's doing.