This is Especially for Our Israelite College Students & Parents
Shalom family.
Depending on the time of year, college campuses are getting ready for another round of Greek rush, intake, Greek Week, homecoming, founders’ celebrations, step shows, probates, stroll-offs, and all the other activities that come with college “Greek Life.”
Whether it happens in August, September, January, February, or some other time in the school year, our young people will see flyers and social-media posts for interest meetings, “Meet the Greeks” events, and invitations.
Some of our sons and daughters will be enticed. They’ll hear about brotherhood & sisterhood. They’ll hear about scholarships, networking, mentorship, professional opportunities, community service, leadership, influence, and lifelong belonging. And we get it — most historically so-called Black Greek-letter organizations were established during a time when so-called Black people were excluded from many so-called White institutions and opportunities. Greek members have done a lot of work in our communities over the years, and I will not act as if those are not the facts.
But family, good-looking, and good-sounding works do not make everything associated with an organization good and righteous. Organizations can provide scholarships and community services and still contain traditions, rituals, vows, symbols, and allegiances that we need to examine, test, and expose carefully in the light, just as Scripture instructs.
And before we go any deeper, please review the etymology of these two words below, since we will use them so often as we continue:
So, Let’s Be Accurate About “Pledging”
First, let us also establish the phrasing. The National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations officially state that they moved away from the old pledging system decades ago, and they use the term Membership Intake Process today. Hazing is also formally prohibited now.
So I’m not writing this to accuse fraternity or sorority members of pledging or hazing. That’s not the argument. The question is much simpler:
What exactly are you agreeing to if/when you become a member?
What are the pledges/intake processes? What are the ceremonies rooted in? What do the symbols tie to? What traditions are you accepting to guard & keep? What allegiances are you making? Those are just a few reasonable questions that must be asked, especially since membership is presented as something that can last a lifetime.
Scripture tells us to take vows seriously. Moses wrote, “When you make a vow to YAH (“The Lord”) your Elohim (“God”), do not delay to pay it” (Deuteronomy 23:21), and Numbers 30:2 tells us that when a person swears an oath, he is not to break his word. Yahoshua (The Messiah) likewise warned us against careless swearing in Matthew 5:33–37. So, don’t let anybody convince you that you need to make a promise first, and find out the full details of what you’re promising later. As my grandfather, who often paraphrases Scripture says “Trust No man”, I will add, certainly, trust no Scripture-breaking organizations, over Scripture.
Know before you vow, read all the “fine print”, then study & test it. Why, because:
We’ve Seen This Before
And this is where thoroughly learning and learning from our history becomes vital. Our ancestors dealt with the pressure of Greek culture long before modern colleges existed. 1st Maccabees tells us that certain Israelites actually said, “Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen nations (Greek) around us” —1 Maccabees 1:11. And in verses 13-15, we see that some of our ancestors pursued all types of Greek customs, they even established a gymnasium in Jerusalem, and concealed and reversed the sign of YAH’s Covenant in their flesh (circumcision; understand what the word gymnasium means for a deeper understanding on why it mattered).
Most unfortunately, our people learned the ways of all things Greek, which included their abominable religious practices, dysfunctional laws, and perverse cultural mindsets. But notice, that they weren’t all dragged into it. Some of them wanted it. Some of our ancestors wanted the culture, the acceptance, the opportunities, and the prestige that came with entering into covenant with and becoming more like the nations around them.
2nd Maccabees gives us another example through Jason, who promoted Greek culture among our people and helped make it attractive to our youth. Review this direct excerpt below, for an easy-to-read English Bible translation:
“The king gave his approval, and just as soon as Jason took over the office of High Priest, he made the people of Jerusalem change to the Greek way of life. He began by abolishing the favors that John had secured for the Israelites from previous Syrian kings. (John was the father of Eupolemus who later went to Rome to make an alliance and to establish ties of friendship.) Jason also did away with our Israelite customs and introduced new customs that were contrary to our Law. With great enthusiasm he built a gymnasium near the Temple Hill and led our finest young men to adopt the Greek custom of participating in athletic events. Because of the unrivaled wickedness of Jason, that ungodly and illegitimate High Priest, the craze for the Greek way of life and for foreign customs reached such a point that even the priests lost all interest in their sacred duties. They lost interest in the Temple services and neglected the sacrifices. Just as soon as the signal was given, they would rush off to take part in the games that were forbidden by our Law. They did not care about anything their ancestors had valued; they prized only Greek honors. And this turned out to be the source of all their troubles, for the very people whose ways they admired and whose customs they tried to imitate became their enemies and oppressed them. It is a serious thing to disregard YAH’s Law, as you will see from the following events.”
2 Maccabees 4:10-17 GNTD
One of the passages above said “They did not care about anything their ancestors had valued; they prized only Greek honors.” (2 Maccabees 4:15). That’s the part I want us to think about. Because assimilation doesn’t always arrive looking like an enemy, sometimes it looks like progress, leveling up, better opportunities, network building, etc… And sometimes it looks like somebody telling our young people, “Come on in. This is where you belong.” Family, that’s why we have to be careful. And we have to ask our people a simple question:
Why are we looking outside of the culture of our ancestors to find our belonging that is detailed in our Scriptures?
The Most High YAH already gave us a belonging! He already gave us brotherhood and sisterhood. He gave us righteous Law — His commandments, statutes, and ordinances. He gave us Shabbat rest days. He gave us His appointed holy days “holidays.” He gave us an inheritance and our covenant identity. He gave us our set-apart belonging.
Psalm 147:19–20 says that YAH declared His Word, statutes, and ordinances to Jacob and Israel (to us fam). Deuteronomy 4:5–8 tells us that the nations would recognize the wisdom of Israel through the commandments YAH gave us. And Exodus 19:5–6 calls us a treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a set-apart nation.
So, why should our sons need a Greek fraternity to tell them they’re brothers? Why should our daughters need a Greek sorority to tell them they’re sisters? They don’t! Why do we need manufactured tribes, line names, colors, calls, hand signs, and Greek life culture to tell us that we belong? We don’t!
We already belong!
Still, We Have to Be Honest
Now, we don’t want to simply tell our young adults, “Don’t join them,” and just leave it at that, as some of us have done. Our people want and should have fellowship. They want and should have mentors, professional connections, people who will help them navigate college and careers. They should have real community. They should have true friendships, brothers, sisters, and a deep sense of belonging. Those desires aren’t dysfunctional, they are highly functional.
The question is: Why haven’t we done a better job of providing those things for our own people? Where are our Israelite scholarship programs? Where are our professional networks? Where is our campus outreach, or welcome-to-Torah groups? Where are our elders, and families checking in on the young adults who left home and went away to college? Where are our business owners and professionals helping the next generation get internships, employment, and opportunities? Reader, I’m talking to both you and me.
If we tell our children that they don’t need those Greek organizations and the opportunities they provide, then we also need to be willing to build something that gives them what they are looking for without asking them to compromise their covenant identity.
We can’t just say, “Don’t join them.” We have to be able to say: “Come join and build with us.”
To Those Who Are Already Greek Members
And if you’re already a member of a Greek frat or soro, this isn’t about mocking you or pretending that you knowingly chose rebellion against YAH when you went Greek.
Many people joined before they understood their Israelite identity. Some followed parents or grandparents. Some were surrounded by respected teachers, pastors, professors, politicians, and community leaders who were proud Greek members. Some simply never had a reason to question it. I myself, encouraged my daughter to join a sorority, prior to learning of our covenant with YAH… And I am forever thankful for repentance and forgiveness.
But when YAH opens our eyes and our minds to The Truth, we have to be willing to examine the things we once accepted. Research your frat or soro history. Check the symbols. Test the rituals and obligations. Review the promises, vows, and pledges you made. Then compare how your examination lines up with Scripture, and then repent.
Don’t defend, excuse, or continue in something just because you’ve invested years into it. Don’t continue in it because your family or friends belong to it. And don’t continue in it simply because the organization does good-looking things.
It’s YAH over everything, right? That’s something each of us has to take seriously. Our brotherhood or sisterhood should unite us as our Father’s children, not as brothers or sisters in sin.
So, Let THEM Rush…
When Greek-life promo season rolls around again, whether it’s at the beginning of the school year, spring intake, homecoming week, Greek Week, founders’ celebrations, or whenever it happens on your campus or off campus, let our young people see it for what it is and make informed decisions, with our help if YAH allows.
Let those who are not us, rush. Let them conduct their intakes. Let them pledge. Let them cross their lines. Let them stroll. Let them probate. Let them wear those counterfeit Greek letters.
It ain’t got nothin’ to do with us fam!
We’ve been called to remember who we are. And we definitely don’t need Greek letters to tell us that we belong to them — besides, we have our own Hebrew letters, that each have concrete meanings thanks to their picture associations. Our Hebrew letters, which the Greeks (and later the Romans, and much later the English) hijacked, twisted, and made abstract by disassociating them from their pictographic meanings completely, can be viewed below:
And definitely watch this quick yet informative clip to see how our letters got twisted and remixed.
Family, we don’t need any organization’s rituals to give us brotherhood or sisterhood. We don’t need Greek prestige badly enough to trade away our covenant identity. We’ve got our own — All praises to The Most High YAH!
And if you want to understand more about the so-called “Divine 9”, their history, and the deeper issues with these Greek organizations, I shed some light on them in my earlier blog, “More About Skinfolk vs. Kinfolk…” So rather than do the same here, click below and fully watch the videos, then share them with your family and friends:
More About Skinfolk vs. Kinfolk… — What Is Hebrewing?
As always, don’t take my word for it. Instead, search the Scriptures for yourself. Pray to our Father in heaven for guidance. And “Do not learn the way of the heathen nations.” —Jeremiah 10:2
Again family: Let them rush. Let them pledge. It ain’t got nothin’ to do with us.
Until next time, shalom ✌🏾
~Yahrahn
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