Back in the early 1980s, Jews for Jesus decided to begin spelling the Hebrew name of Jesus as "Y'shua" instead of the commonly used "Yeshua." They did this not for scholarly reasons but for marketing purposes. The executive director believed that he could measure Jews for Jesus' influence in the Christian world by changing the spelling of this name. The more people that started to use "Y'shua" instead of "Yeshua," the more power he thought he had. And there was probably a "branding" element to this name change as well. Whenever people saw Y'shua spelled with an apostrophe, they would think of Jews for Jesus.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no scholarly basis for transliterating the Hebrew name of Jesus as Y'shua. Any Hebrew scholar will tell you that Yeshua is much closer to how the name sounds when spoken, and in fact the use of this apostrophe when spelling out Y'shua has no basis in any commonly accepted transliteration method. Only ignorant people or cynical marketeers will continue to transliterate it as Y'shua. And that says a lot.
http://exjewsforjesus.org
http://exjewsforjesus.blogspot.com
I did a search on http://www.yellowpages.co.il/ and found that there are at least nine businesses in Israel that have the word "Yeshua" in them.
ReplyDeleteNothing at all under "Y'shua" or "Yshua." My personal favorite is the "Yeshua Falafel."
"Ateret Yeshua' Yeshiva
11 Amos Jerusalem ................ TEL : 972-2-5380156
Category: YESHIVAS
Ben Bassat & Yeshua
97 Rothschild Blvd. Tel Aviv ................ TEL : 972-3-5605546
Category: ACCOUNTANTS - CERTIFIED PUBLIC
Binyamin Yeshua
99 Hadekel Tel Mond ................ TEL : 972-9-7967019
Category: COMPUTERS
S.Y.N. Yeshua Ltd.
Kfar Yehoshua ................ TEL : 972-4-9837662
Category: AUTOMOBILE REPAIRS & SERVICE
Yeshua Falafel
1 Olei Hagardom Commercial Center Jerusalem ................ TEL :
972-2-6738101
Category: SNACK BARS
Yeshua Leyehuda
18 Yoel Bnei Brak ................ TEL : 972-3-5794752
Category: SYNAGOGUES
Yeshua Shmuel
128 Hahagana Rd. Tel Aviv ................ TEL : 972-3-7395043
Category: DRAPERIES - MFR. & WHSLE.
Yeshuah Liyehuda Institutions
7 Yoel Bnei Brak ................ TEL : 972-3-5794752
Category: YESHIVAS
"Yeshuat Mordechai' Convenience Store
14 Harav Sorotzkin Jerusalem ................ TEL : 972-2-5372822
Category: SUPERMARKETS & GROCERS
Today I was going through various JFJ momentos and found an assortment of Y'SHUA pins. There was evern a Y'SHUA pin made of hebrew letters that JFJ designed to be worn as a necklace.
ReplyDeleteThis brought back memories of all the Y'SHUA souvenirs one could buy: Y'SHUA hats, Y'SHUA t-shirts, Y'SHUA sweatshirts, Y'SHUA albums and cassettes, Y'SHUA books, Y'SHUA caps, Y'SHUA stickers and bumper stickers, Y'SHUA buttons....
Y'SHUA newspaper adds that said THE MESSIAH HAS COME AND HIS NAME IS Y'SHUA..
What other Y'SHUA memories do we have?
Y'SHUA cufflinks, Y'SHUA tie clips, Y'SHUA socks, Y'SHUA backpacks, Y'SHUA bracelets, Y'SHUA postcards, Y'SHUA bags, Y'SHUA earings, Y'SHUA hair clips......
ReplyDeleteYou know, these items have the makings of a good song!
I remember it was in the height of the rivalry Moishe had with Martin Chernoff. I suppose he felt the Messianics had Yeshua, so he would "float" Y'shua to see his influence vs. the MJAA (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America), that he was feuding with. Also a music group associated with the MJAA, Lamb, had a popular Messianic song with the chorus "Hallelujah". So Moishe ordered Stuart Dauerman to write a " A song with Hallelujah," for JFJ.
ReplyDeleteAlso there were/are all those Y'SHUA songs.
ReplyDeleteY'shua is the correct way to spell Jesus in trying to get as close as possible as to how the Messiah's name was pronounced in the Aramaic of his day. Some Messianic-Jews having been spelling it as Y'shua since the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteGOD=7_4
Y'shua=74=Y25+S19+H8+U21+A1
Joshua=74=J10+O15+S19+H8+U21+A1
IESVS=74=I9+E5+S19+V22+S19
Jesus=74=J10+E5+S19+U21+S19
Jewish=74=J10+E5+W23+I9+S19+H8
Messiah=74=M13+E5+S19+S19+I9+A1+H8
Cross=74=C3+R18+O15+S19+S19
This alphanumeric code/cipher using 'the key'(74) of A=1, B=2...Z=26 is called 'Simple(6,74) English(7,74) Gematria(8,74) - google that. It exposes much that has been kept secret!