My local library has acquired and prominently displayed a book called, “Why the Jews Rejected Jesus.” The title made no sense to me. It took me several moments to realize why. The title assumes, first of all, that there is a profound connection between Christianity and Judaism and, secondly, that Christianity is true and Judaism is not. Neither assumption is part of my world view.
I always considered Christianity a unique and valid religion. Unfortunately many Christians feel their religion can only be validated when Jews convert to it. From its start, Christianity has been obsessed with Jews. We will never see a book called, “Why the Gaijin Reject Amaterasu” because Shinto does not need outside validation.
Jesus had Jewish followers both during and for a short time after his life. Later, followers of that movement created a distinct religion that included worshiping a god they called Jesus.
Jews don’t reject a historical person named Jesus or a god named Jesus. We simply don't care. Christianity is one religion. Judaism is another.
Another thought-provoking title on the same shelf is “Rabbi Jesus.” (If you enter the title on Amazon.com, you’ll find that several books share this phrase.)
Despite their obsession with Jews, for almost two thousand years, Christians insisted that Jesus was not Jewish. But
now, they say Jesus was Jewish.
For two thousand years, Christianity excoriated rabbis. But
now, they say Jesus was a rabbi.
Christians do not see the absurdity of calling their god Rabbi Jesus. Consider this question: if Rabbi Jesus were alive today, would he go to a Christian church to worship himself or would he go to a synagogue to worship god? Either he’s god or he’s not—why are they vacillating?
Why have many Christians decided to assert that the figure they call god was both Jewish and a rabbi? Why has there been a “jewification” of the Christian god?
And when did this phenomenon begin? Was it after the Holocaust when some people realized that the anti-Jewish teachings of Christianity had been the cause of the Holocaust? Or did it begin after the re-establishment of the state of Israel?
Until 1948, Christian asserted that the exile of Jews was proof of Jesus’s divinity. The end of that exile must have been a conundrum for them. We didn’t convert and yet our exile ended. How could that have happened if Christianity is the "fulfillment" of Judaism, the replacement for Judaism?
Christians have always seemed to need Judaism even as they denigrated it. Today, some Christians go so far as to call themselves Messianic Jews. They pretend to be Jewish and even pepper their conversations with incorrectly pronounced Yiddish words. (Jesus never spoke Yiddish and neither do they.) These so-called Jews are laying claim to a heritage that isn’t theirs.
Our heritage includes these words: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he tarry, I will wait for him.”
If you believe Jesus was the messiah or that events such as the Holocaust or other atrocities could occur during the messianic age, then you are most certainly not a Jew. You are what Irving Greenberg amusingly called a “premature messianist.”
Christianity is one religion. Judaism is another. Christianity should not need Jewish validation.
If you are concerned because the Jewish people have not converted to Christianity, study Judaism to understand why. But you don’t have to. We’re not out to convert you.
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Massacre of the Jews of Metz during the First Crusade,
by Auguste Migette |
