Mystical Mikveh Immersion.

Mike Says:
November 15th, 2007 at 2:04 am
The Mandaeans are the descendents of the disciples of John the Baptist. They are known in the Torah as Tovelei Shaharit or hemerobaptists and therefore members of the Essenes since John the Baptist belonged to this group.

For accuracy’s sake, they are not mentioned in the Torah or Tanach. There’s a likely reference to them in a Talmudic quotation known as a “Tosefta” – an extension.

See “Hemerobaptists” in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

Sarah, you make a good point, albeit not a defense for Kelsey’s dig. For example, I was woefully unawares of the Armenian genocide (see, I said it), until my Junior High School days (not long after WWII) until I read Vonnegut’s “Bluebeard”.

I remember after Operation Sheba the word “Falasha” was more divisive among the Israeli Jewish Community than genocide. There, that’s my dig…

uk.youtube.com...

So too with the smaller minorites. (Note — Kurds are NOT a small minority, but a sizable minority.) Hussein did not feel threatened by the Mandaeans, and did afford them some protection, even if they were by no means in love with the bastard, who did persecute them to some extent, but indirectly. Not like what they are going through. Not at all.

Both Simon Jeans, Solicitor and Advocate for the Mandaean Community, and Brikkha Nasoraia, Rabbi -that’s right, he goes by Rabbi!) and President of the International Nasorean Mandaean Supreme Council reported,

“Simon Jeans: Saddam used to protect all the minority groups. This is how he operated – to buy off communities. He gave the Mandaeans a key piece of land on the river in the central part of Baghdad. In return, they gave him gifts such as the translation of their Holy Book in an Arabic language, and you had to co-operate with the regime in order to survive. I don’t want to give the impression that they were supporters of Saddam Hussein…”

abc.net.au/rn/...

CK, I realize you didn’t write it, but you copied the whole thing.

The Mandaeans SHOULD BE A VERY SERIOUS issue, but by putting in ridiculous information (like that Saddam protected them) you get intelligent readers to question the whole issue.

The thinking goes like this:
If the article is wrong about Saddam protecting them…. maybe the whole thing is wrong….. and the Mandaeans aren’t really being persecuted.

Their problems don’t end in Syrian or Jordan. If Jews had to convert to Islam in order to receive aid, which the NY Times reported is happening to the Mandaeans in Iraq and Syria, would you say, “Oh, well, at least they aren’t being burned alive, so it’s okay.”

I’m sorry I mentioned the ADL, as if your comments are any indication, it was indeed a distraction from what I was trying to accomplish.

You realize that the ADL has finally declared the Armenian Genocide a genocide, yes?