He isn't merely a perfect icon to admire but an example to follow in how to fully engage one's capacity for relationship with God.
Jews and Christians have come far enough to now engage in a mature relationship of mutual affection where we both respect the G-dly calling that each faith possesses without engaging in games of one-upmanship.
Thursday I had what was probably the most unpleasant TV interview of my life on Canada's Sun News Network. Interviewed by host Michael Coren about my book Kosher Jesus, I expected to be asked about the book's content. Coren quickly got to a question that seemed to be bursting from within.
To bring anyone's children into a public dispute about ideas is a gross violation. But for religious leaders to suggest that children will pay for a father's actions by not being able to marry is loathsome and grotesque.
Perhaps the swarm of Jewish anti-missionaries who have ganged up to malign my book ought to consider a new approach to combat the problem of assimilation. "Kosher Jesus" is that new approach.
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.
Though we may not admit it, Jews are fascinated by Jesus. Some are now reclaiming him as a devoutly Jewish sage. But old wounds aren't healed by a couple generations of cultural acceptance.
Friends have asked me whether I expected this level of attack in publishing Kosher Jesus. My response has been that while I expected the book to be criticized, I never expected my critics to compromise their own values in going after the book.
Shmuley Boteach is an old friend, but even old friends can go awry sometimes. When they do, it behooves someone who cares enough for them to try and set them straight. Not to do so is to betray that friendship.
I must retain the right to defend myself against the appalling and libelous charge of heresy. America is not Iran and rabbis in the American Jewish community are not the Revolutionary Guard.
Should Rabbi Boteach be offended that certain members of the Orthodox-Jewish community are renouncing a book titled "Kosher Jesus" and not giving him a platform to promote it? Of course not.
"Kosher Jesus" is brilliant because it factually and painstakingly dissects the historical logic that Christianity upholds as its narrative of Jesus.
Why does all this matter? Because a battle is being waged for the soul of Judaism between a lunatic fringe and those who believe Judaism must always be informed, educated, open and loving.
That's the problem with the knee-jerk religious extremism. It dismisses nuance and seeks to create bogeymen.
