Teachers at Kehilat She’ar Yashuv

 
 
 
Rabbi Netanel Ben Yochanan ז״ל
– Ranebi רנב”י 
 
 
Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan (a.k.a. Percy Johnson) was born in a Sephardic Orthodox Jewish home in Lima, Peru.  Being extremely intelligent, having graduated from high school at the age of 14, he was invited at 22 to teach thermodynamics at his university. He earned four master’s degrees, two in Engineering (Civil and Industrial), one in Theology and one in Psychology.
 
More importantly, he was a man who always thought outside the box.  Although he was an avowed atheist,  after a tragic accident where his older brother was killed, he began to question the existence of God. A series of events led him to a supernatural experience in which he knew that the God of Israel was real and began to question Yeshua’s identity. He went to his rabbi, who refused to speak about him, and the only one to answer his questions was a Baptist Missionary. He struggled with their Jesus, and finally, after he told his parents that he believed that Jesus was the messiah, they threw him out of his home.  Empty-handed and lost, he agreed to attend the Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX.
 
As a Jewish professor, he was accustomed to challenging other professors and students, but within two weeks he got into trouble after accusing a professor of teaching a lie.  He could not believe what he was being taught about Yeshua in light of what he was reading. Two and a half years later, the Director of the Seminary expelled him for his radical thinking, but had to give him his degree since he had already completed the four-year program. He could never believe in their version of Yeshua, the Rabbi.
 
He arrived in Montreal in 1992 and became the founder and spiritual leader of Kehilat She’ar Yashuv in 1993, where he remained chief rabbi until September 2020, when he went to be with his forefathers. 
 
Rabbi Netanel Z” l was a voracious reader and studied the Talmud and Midrashim. His favorite rabbi other than Yeshua was Rabbi Maimonides, with whom he argued on a regular basis. He would laugh at how he always won the argument.
 
He worked very hard over the years trying to change the ideology of the Messianic Movement from the inside, but found it was a battle he could not win. He left and slowly weaned our congregation away from the doctrines of Christianity, encouraging us to return to the simple principles of the written Torah and, especially, to live by them.  His favorite sayings were: “Say yes to God and say no to religion,” and “God is the God of Beginning Again.” He wanted his students to know how to APPLY the wisdom of the Torah (especially the Ten Commandments) to our daily lives while having a sincere and honest relationship with the Bore Olam.
 
Ranebi believed that no one needed to convert to another religion, which he said is a lateral move, rather than an upward one, to have a relationship with the Creator. Both Jew and Gentile simply needed to do teshuvah, which means to return to the God of Israel, to study and live by the Torah and understand that we are fallible; only God is perfect.  
 
Ranebi worked diligently and was dedicated to mentoring and building up leaders for the healthy future of Kahal Israel and the world.  Two of his talmidim below, Mrs. Peggy Pardo and Mr. Mauricio Quintero, are assisting in teaching his community, while we continue to listen to and learn from our rabbi’s messages every month.
 
 
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Peggy Jacobson Pardo, Administrator and Moderator 

At the age of 12, I joined Young Judea, started learning Hebrew, and developed a desire to move to Israel. Life happened, and I got married at 19 and had two beautiful daughters. 

I had begun a search for truth at the age of 16 due to physical pain. Over the years, I  investigated many religions, ideologies, and philosophies, including the New Age, studied psychology, and became a hypnotherapist, but always felt empty inside.  In 1989, I was about to visit the Lubavitchers because their beliefs were similar to New Age beliefs; instead, I was sidetracked into the Hebrew-Christian movement, which later became the Messianic Movement.  I attended Bible Study and experienced a change in my soul, where the emptiness disappeared; however, when I was advised to attend church, I would come home weeping. I was a Jew, and nothing could change that. 

In 1992, Rabbi Percy Johnson arrived in Montreal and set out to found a congregation, Kehilat She’ar Yashuv (of which I was a co-founder). Here we could learn how to live the life of Torah as Jews outside the tenets of religion. 

Slowly over time, in the same way that the Israelites were weaned away from the gods of Egypt, Ranebi helped wean us away from the gods of our past, which now included the man-made god, Jesus.  He showed us that the Torah makes it clear that the only God, the Bore Olam, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, is the Creator of the Universe, and that a man cannot be Him.  

He taught us to see Yeshua for who he was: a prophet, a great teacher, a rabbi at the time of the Romans, who wanted his people, Israel, to return to the written teachings of Moses in the Torah, specifically the Ten Commandments, so that we could fulfill our calling to be “ohr l’goyim”, light to the nations. We left Messianic Judaism along with all the other “isms” except for Biblical Judaism and its book, the Torah, which holds life and healing in all its pages.

In September 2020, our Creator took Ranebi home to be with Him.  It was a shock, but I knew that I had a decision to make. I remembered him telling us that if this congregation depended upon him to remain open, then it was not from God. Ranebi left us with teachings that live on.  He would say to me, “There’s nothing left to teach; now my students need to live the Torah and appropriate its moral values, and live and teach them to others.”

I immediately went to work setting up our new board and reworking our constitution with the continuation of our community in mind.  Now I can see the wisdom in our rabbi’s words.  My desire as an ordained leader (I received Smichah in 2010) at Kehilat She’ar Yashuv is to continue the work Ranebi began.  This community is in my blood, and I look forward to seeing how God will lead us in the days ahead.

 
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Sr. Mauricio Quintero, teacher

Mauricio Quintero is a businessman, husband, and father of three children and resides in El Salvador. He was first introduced to our Rabbi about 7 years ago by Rabbi Iosef Chemi from Argentina. Rabbi Chemi was mentored by and later became a colleague of our Rabbi for many years. Mauricio began attending our rabbi’s Tuesday Torah studies, and he too became his Talmid (student). His love for the principles of Torah and the God of Israel left him quite alone, not only in his family but all those around him. Undeterred, he continued to study under Rabbi Percy and after his death, Mauricio devoted himself to continuing the rabbi’s work by teaching the Torah and bringing the Shabbat messages to our community.

Mr. Quintero accepted the role of President of the non-profit organization in the USA, She’ar Yashuv International, and shortly afterwards accepted a role on the board of KSY Canada. He also hosts our Spanish “tertulia” (Discussion Group) once a week. We call upon Mauricio on many occasions to help answer more difficult biblical questions, and he is always ready with detailed and well-researched responses.

We are so grateful to have him as our teacher. His love for the Torah and his knowledge of both Talmud and New Testament allow him to be an excellent teacher, especially since he always remains humble.

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Alejandro and Yanet Alvarado, Cantors

Mi esposa Yanet y yo llegamos a Canadá en octubre de 1992 con nuestro hijo Andrés, que en ese momento tenía 1 año. Nuestras hijas, Adrianna y Ann-Marie nacieron aquí en Canadá. Poco después de llegar a Canadá, conocimos al rabino Percy Johnson, quien era invitado a hablar en las iglesias donde él hablaba acerca de las raíces judías del cristianismo. Fue así como empezamos a conocer nuestras raíces judías y comenzamos a adentrarnos cada vez más en este conocimiento. Asistimos a eventos en Kehilat She’ar Yashuv donde celebramos las fiestas bíblicas y poco a poco nos fuimos sumergiendo en la vida judía de una manera más participativa y con una conciencia más clara acerca de lo que estábamos aprendiendo.

Asistíamos a la congregación cada Shabat y pronto nos convertimos en miembros de la congregación. Desde entonces hemos participado plena y activamente en cada evento y festividad porque nos sentimos parte de esta comunidad. A través de las enseñanzas de nuestro amado rabino, a lo largo de los años hemos crecido como familia e individualmente, aprendiendo a vivir los principios de la Torá.

La familia Alvarado tiene habilidades y destrezas naturales en las artes culinarias, el entretenimiento y la organización de fiestas. Han organizado nuestras bodas, Bar Mitzvot y otros eventos nuestros. Alejandro fue ordenado ministro en nuestra comunidad en 2021. También participó en nuestra junta interina durante el primer año durante la reestructuración después de la muerte de nuestro rabino, hasta que pudimos reemplazarlo con un miembro de la junta a tiempo completo. Él, su esposa Yanet y su hijo, quienes tienen hermosas voces para cantar, dirigen nuestros servicios litúrgicos cada Shabat y Festivales. Nos sentimos honrados y bendecidos de tener a la familia Alvarado sirviendo en nuestra comunidad durante casi 30 años. (Peggy Pardo, Administradora Kehilat Shear Yashuv)

Translation:

My wife, Yanet, and I arrived in Canada in October 1992 with our son, Andrés, who was 1 year old. Our daughters were born here in Canada. Soon after we arrived in Canada, we met Rabbi Percy Johnson, who was invited to speak at churches where he introduced the people to the Jewish Roots of Christianity. That is how we began to learn about our Jewish roots and decided to leave Christianity. We attended events at Kehilat She’ar Yashuv where we celebrated the Biblical holidays, and little by little we became more immersed in Jewish life, more participatory and with greater knowledge.

We attended the congregation every Shabbat and soon became members. From that moment on, we have fully and actively participated in every event and holiday because we feel part of this community. Through the teachings of our beloved rabbi, we have grown as a family and individually over the years, learning to live by the principles of the Torah.

The Alvarado family have natural abilities and skills in catering, entertaining and party management. They have organized weddings, bar mitzvahs and all our events. Alejandro was ordained as a minister in our community in 2021.   Alejandro served on our interim board for the first year of the restructuring following the death of our rabbi, until becoming a full-time board member and our President. He and his wife Yanet lead our liturgical services every Shabbat and Moedim, Festivals. We are honored and blessed to have the Alvarado family serving in our community for almost 30 years. (Peggy Pardo, Administrator, Kehilat Shear Yashuv)