I've always said that the only times Jewish people mention Jesus are when they stub their toe, miss the bus or tell you about their theater tickets to a certain Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera. Two new books will change that. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's "Kosher Jesus" and "The Jewish Annotated New Testament" (edited by Marc Z. Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine). The former discusses the Jewish life of Jesus of Nazareth and the latter is a newly revised edition of the Christian Scriptures with notes and essays from Jewish scholars in the hope of making the New Testament accessible to Jews.
In my final years of rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, I was living and working in Caldwell, N.J., as a rabbinic intern. One of the congregants at the synagogue, Agudath Israel, was a professor at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J. She asked me to give a presentation about Judaism to the women in her undergraduate class. In preparation for my visit she asked the students to submit a list of five questions each that they would like me to consider. Without any exaggeration, a full 90 percent of the students included at least one question about Jesus Christ in their list.
I had received questions from Christians in the past concerning the Jewish view of Jesus, but that experience confirmed for me just how curious Christians are about how Jews understand Jesus in both historical and theological perspectives. Many of the women in that class at the College of St. Elizabeth were surprised to learn that Jews do not consider Jesus to be the messiah and the entire class was shocked to discover that Jesus' teachings were not part of the required coursework I was doing in my rabbinical school studies. By far, to this day the most frequent questions I receive from Christians all have to do with the Jewish understanding of Jesus.
The topic of the contemporary view of Jesus among Jews has long been stuck somewhere between taboo and "we just don't talk about it." But now, thanks to two new books, it is front and center. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who refers to himself as "America's Rabbi" has written a new controversial book that will be released next week. For those who thought Boteach's "Kosher Sex" was too radical, his new "Kosher Jesus" is sure to ruffle feathers. With Boteach, it is difficult to know if he writes these provocative books and articles because he's genuinely passionate about the scholarly discussion it will generate or if he just lusts after the spotlight. Still, playing up his friendship with the late Michael Jackson and very passively campaigning to be the next Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has been busy publicly questioning what all this fuss is about with his new book. In truth, Boteach knows that every Orthodox rabbi and scholar -- from Chabad Lubavitch to the haredim -- who attack "Kosher Jesus" as blasphemous, and its author as a heretic, are only helping his book sales.
Boteach loves the attention he's getting and in the weeks leading up to its release has been penning article after article fighting back against his naysayers. In a recent Jerusalem Post column, Boteach wrote, "Unless you've been a space-tourist with Virgin Galactic the past few weeks you will know that on [sic] February my new book will be published." (There's no doubt in my mind he received a generous kickback from Virgin's Richard Branson for mentioning Galactic.) Media attention aside, I think Boteach's book is important and will finally make it "kosher" for Jews to learn about and discuss Jesus as the historical figure.
Boteach's book portrays the actual story of Jesus' Jewish life as told in both early Christian and Jewish sources. If you ask most Jews to tell you about the historical figure of Jesus, their response often turns fuzzy after a quick introduction that he was Jewish. "Kosher Jesus" explains how Jesus was a Torah-observant teacher who instructed his followers to observe the Torah. Jesus' teachings were quoted extensively from the Torah. And before being murdered by Pontius Pilate, Jesus fought Roman paganism and persecution of the Jewish people. His death was retribution for his rebellion against Rome.
No matter what one believes Boteach's intentions were in writing this book (more fame, more money, a Chief Rabbi position, setting the academic record straight or a combination thereof), he clearly did his research on the subject and has taken away the taboo of Jews discussing Jesus of Nazareth. Hopefully, Boteach's book will give Jews the ability to go a little deeper in their understanding of Jesus. This will be helpful for rabbis like me who often field questions about Jesus from Christians, but it will also prove useful for Jews living in predominantly Christian areas as well as for the Jewish college student with a Christian roommate or agressive missionaries on campus.
As I have been reading the many criticisms of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and his "Kosher Jesus," one thing that I've noticed is the strong discomfort his attackers have with even mentioning Jesus. As Josh Fleet mentioned in his Huffington Post article, some of Boteach's critics refuse to even type out the name Jesus. Instead they refer to Boteach's book as "Kosher J...." abbreviating the name of Jesus in a way that is reminiscent of how they refuse to spell out the word "God" or "Lord," choosing instead to use "G-d" or "L-rd." This struck me as odd as it seems to put Jesus in the same category as God, whose name must not be rendered in print (even though the English words "God" and "Lord" are not actual names for the Jewish deity and I've never understood a ban on spelling out God's name in Latin characters). In any event, it is similarly odd that many of Boteach's critics who are eager to put him in herem (excommunication) for having the chutzpah to publish a book about Jesus of Nazareth are the same Chabad Lubavitch members who seem to be placing their bets that the late Lubavitch rebbe is the messiah. One man's false messiah is another man's god. One man's spiritual leader is another man's messiah.
I especially like the way Josh Fleet concludes his article about the sharp criticism of "Kosher Jesus." Fleet writes, "In 2012, the topic of Jesus should not be a Jewish taboo. If we believe so much that our relationship with Christianity is based on deceit, tragedy and senseless hatred -- that it has broken us -- then we are obligated to believe it can be based on trust, opportunity and boundless love -- that it can be fixed." Well stated, and I believe that what will equally help fix the way Jews deal with the topic of the historical Jesus will be the new contribution by Brandeis professor Marc. Z. Brettler and Vanderbilt professor Amy-Jill Levine. Their new version of the New Testament is revolutionary in that it has been published for Jews.
I am always surprised when Christians are surprised that New Testament Studies was not part of my academic courses in rabbinical school. No matter how many times I explain that Jews do not believe our Torah has been superseded by the "New Testament," Christians still don't understand this concept. It's as if they think that we're big fans of the first Godfather movie and yet refuse to watch the sequel. In truth, most Jews who are knowledgeable about the Jewish Bible have little clue about the narrative of the "New Testament." One of the primary reasons for this has been the Jewish ban on studying Christian religious texts for theologically dogmatic reasons. However, the new version that Brettler and Levine have put forth seems to make this scholarship safe for Jewish students.
An article in the USA Today explains Prof. Levine's intentions in completing this project:
The project, published in November by Oxford University Press, is the latest effort in Levine's lifelong quest to help Jews and Christians understand each other better.
That quest started when she was growing up among Portuguese Roman Catholics in North Dartmouth, Mass. She was fascinated by her schoolmates' faith and horrified when one of them told her that the Jews had killed God by crucifying Jesus.
She made it her life's work to prevent Christians from spreading that kind of anti-Semitic claim and to help build a bridge between the two faiths.
When you consider how little most Jews know about Jesus from a historical perspective, it is actually an exciting time when this discussion will no longer be taboo. While some religious Jews will claim it is dangerous to read books like "Kosher Jesus" or to have Brettler and Levine's commentary of the "New Testament" on your bookshelf for reference, I actually think that this will lead to better Jewish-Christian dialogue. It will also alleviate so much of the misinformation and ignorance that many Jews have about Christianity and its roots. I'm eager to see where this leads and I'm grateful to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for having the conviction to publish "Kosher Jesus" and to Profs. Brettler and Levine for using their scholarship to educate us on a religion about which we have been hesitant to learn more.
Rabbi Jason Miller is on Facebook and blogs at Blog.RabbiJason.com Follow him on Twitter @rabbijason.
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Bernard Starr: To Experience Jesus, Visit a Synagogue
Jesus quoting Moses, Deuteronomy 8:3 at Matthew 4:4, "Live by every word that proceeds from Our Creator", not calling anyone Rabbi, Matthew 23, Our Creator is your teacher, offends many who want to be called Rabbi.
In Luke 15 through 16 there are parables that indicate some would be tormented by a change in circumstances, and many seem to be offended that some are recognizing a rightness in Christianity that is lacking in trying to go back to the rules of "Old Jewry".
If one wants to do as Moses recommended, to live by "every word that comes from Our Creator" one can read all the "Old Testament", "The Hebrew Scriptures" paying attention to all it says about a coming Messiah then go into the "New Testament" and see if it seems plausible that it is a continuation of Scriptures from Our Creator.
I have copies of the Hebrew Scriptures from different Hebrew publishing houses and have compared passages in the King James OT to them and think one would do well to get a recorded copy of the KJ and listen to it all several times as a base to start to consider if one should consider Christianity over "Old Jewry" or even "New Jewry" . KJ, internet downloadable free.
What can I say about your strong belief that Jesus Christ ia a deity bodily present in this world and you believe he is one-third of god’s component. Well you have your view and let we Muslims have our views. No point fighting.
Existence is common both in God and in the universe and this has led Christians like you to conclude that God means the Universe ( Jesus).
But the Ultimate Reality is still far away. As every human has a soul, Jesus had a soul.
It is like the relation that the embryo has with its mother when both are mixed up with each other..
Lay Christians like you think there is unity between God and Jesus
But Islam asserts that, that Unity is not real.
They say that human intellect can reach what they call the universal soul but it can not move a step further and so we say God is incomparable and unfathomable. Jesus is not the Universe,
The Ultimate reality is still very, very far away. However the Quran says, God is closer to you than your jugular vein.
When a great Emanation takes place ( Example Birth of Jesus) people came under the over weaning presumption that Jesus is the Incarnation of God Himself which was a great ignorance and folly according to Islam. People took the shadow (Jesus) of reality as Reality itself.
Arabic-Masih. Root word m-a-s-a-h-a, meaning to rub, to
massage, to anoint.
How does he do that? Very easily MESSIAH in Hebrew means anointed. The
Greek word for anointed is "christos". Just lop off the 'os'
from christos and you are left with christ.
Anointed means
APPOINTED in its religious connotation. Jesus (pbuh) was
appointed (anoited) at his baptism by John the Baptist, as
God's Messenger.
Every Prophet of God is so anointed or
appointed. The Holy Bible is replete with the "anointed" ones.
In the original Hebrew - made a "messiah". Let us keep to the
English translation - "anointed." Not only were prophets and
priests and kings anointed (christos-ed), but borns, and
cherubs and lamp-posts also.
I am the God of Beth-el, where you ANOINTED a pillar...
Genesis 31:13
If the priest that is ANOINTED do sin ... Leviticus 4:3
And Moses...ANOINTED the tabernacle and all things that was
therein ... Leviticus 8:10
...THE LORD SHALL...EXALT THE HORN OF HIS ANOINTED
1 Samuel 2:10
Thus saith the Lord to his ANOINTED to Cyrus... Isaiah 45:1
Thou art the ANOINTED cherub... Ezekiel 28:14
There are a hundred more such references in the Holy Bible.
As a matter of fact, if you want to kill me for saying His name, I will hand you the gun. Just do what you are going to do, and do it quickly.
-from one of His pupils, and a devoted lover of the uber-Jew, the greatest Jew that ever lived.
Eventually, if you are lucky and He finds you interesting enough for some business in His kingdom, He will most definitely reveal to you the kind of power He has, personally, in your life.
As soon as a chapter or a verse was revealed, it was committed to writing.
The official version was produced under the direction of the caliph Abu Bakr, who had it bound after arranging for all the verses to be written on square papers of the same size.
It is said that during the caliphate of Umar Faruq there were more than one hundred thousand copies of the Qur’an in circulation in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, etc.
During the first caliphate, the Qur’an not only existed in written form on the bark of date palms, stones, leather, etc, but was also preserved in the memory of the companions.
The Qur’an, when made into a book, was arranged in the order memorized by the companions, and the verses have been preserved in that same order right up to the present day.
During the caliphate of Uthman, Islam had spread far and wide, and the number of Muslims was legion. Moreover, the companions who taught the Qur’an had gone to different countries that had come within the fold of Islam.
It is an irrefutable fact acknowledged by the orientalists, that any copy of the Qur’an found in any part of the world at any time will be exactly the same as that handed down to the Muslims by the Prophet in his last days, arranged in the form still extant today.
THe Civil Rights movement was led by ministers, churchgoers and its churches served as a place for organizing voter registration in the south as well as organizing marches and protest activity.The churches housed, fed and protected the freedom riders .This is why the churches were bombed. BTW, one of these ministers, and theologian was the single most important American that has ever lived....MLK.
God ha dtold me to play the stock market ; true story ; play the stockmarket ; i just needed to add one word successfully
Why Islam seems to be outside this circle of goodwill and, in the West at least, to have retained its negative image.
Does Islam come under a separate unit?
People who are beginning to find inspiration in Zen or Taoism are usually not nearly so eager to look kindly upon Islam, even though it is the third religion of Abraham and more in tune with our own Judaeo-Christian tradition.
In the West we have a long history of hostility towards Islam that seems as entrenched as our anti-Semitism, which in recent years has seen a disturbing revival in Europe.
At least, however, many people have developed a healthy fear of this ancient prejudice since the Nazi Holocaust.
But the old hatred of lslam continues to flourish on both sides of the Atlantic and people have few scruples about attacking this religion, even if they know little about it.
The hostility is understandable, because until the rise of the Soviet Union in our own century, no polity or ideology posed such a continuous "challenge to the West as Islam.
When the Muslim empire was established in seventh century CE, Europe was a backward region. Islam had quickly overrun much of the Christian world of the Middle East as well as the great Church of North Africa, which had been of crucial importance to the Church of Rome.
And on another note, I am Buddhist. Most Buddhists I know actually DO look kindly upon Islam and muslims in general. Most Buddhists understand that the acts of terrorism in the world by so-called "Muslim" terrorists, are not an example of Islam and are merely the acts of evil men hiding behind the Quran.
F&F
John chapter 10, verse 30. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me:
30 I and my Father are one.
One in what? In their Omniscience? In their Nature? In their Omnipotence No! One in purpose!
The expression "I and my Father are one," was very innocent, meaning nothing more than a common purpose with God. But the
Jews were looking for trouble and any excuse will not do, therefore, -
31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from
my Father for which of those works do you stone me?
34 Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the son of God?
"YE ARE GODS"
"Ye are gods:"
He is obviously quoting from the 82nd. Psalm
(verse 6)
"I have said, YE ARE GODS: and all of you are, the children of the most High."
THE SIMILITUDE OF JESUS BEFORE GOD IS THAT OF ADAM; HE CREATED HIM FROM DUST, THEN SAID TO HIM: 'BE': AND HE WAS. HOLY QURAN
3:59
If it is said that he was born without a human father, Adam was also so born. Indeed Adam was born without either a human father or mother. As far as our physical bodies are concerned they are mere dust.
In God's sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is. The greatness of Jesus arose from the divine command "Be". for after that he was - more than dust - a great spiritual leader and teacher."
The logic of it is that, if being born without a male parent entitles Jesus to being equated with God, then, Adam would have a greater right to such honour, and this
Even according to my Christian brother’s own false standards.there is yet another person greater than Jesus, in his own Bible.
"FOR THIS MELCHISEDEC, KING OF SALEM, PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGHGOD..."
"Without father, without mother, without descent, having NEITHER BEGINNING of days, NOR END of life..." HEBREWS 7:1 and 3
Here is a candidate for Divinity itself,
for only God Almighty could possess these qualities. Adam and Jesus had a beginning, both had an end But where is Melchisedec?
Jewish belief in a messiah is based on the promise given to David .So Jews believe messiah will be son of David.They neglect the fact that the promise is conditional one.Sons of David failed to keep the conditions and God is not bound to keep that promise.
The Jews flocked around Jesus expecting he is the messiah because they believed it is the right time for their messiah to appear
Unfortunately Jesus is the first Jew who questioned Jewish belief that Messiah is the son of David. Not only that Jesus told the Jews not to believe any body who claims he is the messiah. Or some one tells you messiah is in the desert or in the inner room do not believe it, do not follow them. The Jews who wanted a messiah refused to listen Jesus and they failed to understand the message of Jesus.
The Jews who found their messiah in Jesus declared Jesus is the son of God. They interpreted Bible in such a way to make others believe Jesus is the Christ and son of God.( John.20;21) Truth about Jesus is far away from the belief of Jews and Christians. Jesus command you ," You shall tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ". But who cares ?”
Although, every prophet of God is an ANOINTED one of God - a
Messiah, the title "Masih" or "Messiah" or its translation
"CHRIST" is exclusivel reserved for Jesus, the son of Mary, in
both Islam and in Christianity.
This is not unusual in religion. There are certain other honorific title which may be
applied to more than one prophet, yet being made exclusive to
one by usage: like "Rasul-lullah", meaning Messenger of God,
which title is applied to both Moses (19:51) and Jesus (61:6)
in the Holy Quran.
Yet "Rasul-lullah" has become synonymous
only with the Prophet of Islam among Muslims.
Every prophet is indeed a FRIEND OF GOD, but its Arabic
equivalent "Kha-lil-lullah" is exclusively associated with
Father Abraham.
This does not mean that the others are not
God's friends.
"Kalimul-lah" (One who spoke with God) is never
used for anyone other than Moses, yet we believe that God
spoke with all His Messengers, including Jesus and Muhummed
(May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon all His servants).
Associating certai titles with certain personages only, does
not make them exclusive or unique in any way.
We honour all in varying terms.
Take care and do deeper research. make a difference between the ONE TRUE REAL ALMIGHTY GOD and His creatures including the mighty messiahs and prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, David, Solomon, Isaac, and others.