For the past six years I have been working on a book, to be published shortly, on a new understanding of Jesus as prophet rather than deity, based exclusively on the New Testament. The real story of Jesus as teacher of traditional Jewish spirituality to his disciples lies explicitly in the text. I have lectured Christian audiences about rediscovering the uniquely Jewish Jesus as a way of deepening their spiritual understanding of Christianity and stripping it of any acquired pagan coating. The response has been overwhelming.Wow! I bet it has. The interesting thing, and I wonder how the church will truly accept this, is that Rabbi Boteach speaks of "Judaizers" as the answer to saving Judaism. Normally, churches speak of "Judaizers" in very negative terms as if they're "trying to bring us under the Law" (egad). I also wonder what combined Judaism thinks of this?
Two thousand years ago a still mysterious man named Saul of Tarsus saw that the ideas and values behind Judaism were so breathtaking that they could change the world, if only they could be stripped of their ritual demands and be mixed with a human deity who was more accessible than Judaism’s invisible God. Thus, from the foundations of Jewish spirituality Christianity, and later Islam, was born. The time has come for the original progenitors of the ideas to offer the world the original source, not by converting non-Jews to Judaism but by reviving an ancient “associate” status that allows them to live lives deeply influenced by Jewish spiritually and values while retaining their own identity.Many years ago, I heard a Jewish (non-Messianic) woman refer to Jesus as "a nice Jewish boy", but she had nothing good to say about that "traitor" Paul, who twisted the teachings of Jesus into another religion (i.e. Christianity). In both Christianity and Judaism, it's generally agreed that Paul threw away his Jewishness and converted to the Christian religion, which he more or less invented (the latter is more of a Jewish viewpoint from what I understand). Rabbi Boteach starts from a similar foundation, but reframes Paul's actions in a much more positive light.
Rabbi Boteach outlines seven steps Gentiles would go through to incorporate Judaism in their lives and you can find these in the source news article (hence the title of this blog post). Is this so different from what Messianic Judaism proposes relative to the Gentiles in their midst? It's not about converting Gentiles to Judaism, it's about integrating the rest of the world into the values given to the Jews by God.
Since Yahnatan brought this up on twitter but hasn't yet blogged about it, I thought I'd take it upon myself to start the conversation in the Messianic blogosphere. I think it's a subject worth tossing about. First read the Jerusalem Post article and then come back here and comment.
Let the games begin.
15 comments:
He seems to be offering this not only for Gentiles but for Jews also. See his opening paragraphs.
I don't have a problem with the idea, I have a problem with his steps. I don't think Christians would ever accept the Rabbinical writings or decide to eat Rabbinical kosher. Try simply getting them to stop eating pig!
Why not just start promoting Noahide laws? That is already in place and doesn't need reinvented.
I believe that as people get closer to Hashem & begin observing the Noahide laws, if their heart is in it then they will be led to more observance.
Yeah, saw that the other night when Shmuley tweeted it.
Some amusing things gleened from the article:
-What FFOZ calls gentile "God-fearers", Shmuley calls "Judaizers".
-The term "Judaizer", as you point out, has negative connotations in the New Testament and the modern Christian world. Redefining the term is unlikely to be successful.
-He points to Yeshua as a prophet and not a deity. If Yeshua is a prophet and nothing more, our hope is in vain.
-His upcoming book about Jesus as prophet-not-deity is solely based on the New Testament. Be prepared for Scriptural acrobats. :-)
His 7 steps sound generally good. That said, I don't want to be a Judaizer. I want to be a disciple of Yeshua.
Greetings, Hope. I think Rabbi Shmuley is primarily writing the book for Gentiles as a way to re-enforce Jewish ethical and moral behavior in the larger world and, by inference, to have more Gentiles support Judaism. As an Orthodox Rabbi, he is going to completely support the traditional viewpoint of Judaism and the rabbinic teachings as applied to Jews. I don't think there's anything wrong with Christianity getting a better idea of the Jewish roots of the faith, but I think most churches will draw the line at the Noahide laws or anything that suggests Law as opposed to Grace. Ironically, most Christians are probably obeying a significant portion of the Torah anyway (not murdering, not stealing, visiting the sick).
Hi Judah. Rabbi Shmuley, as an Orthodox Jew, has no choice but to look at Yeshua as a prophet and only as a prophet since viewing Yeshua as Messiah, let alone God is totally off his radar screen. While what Rabbi Shmuley proposes sounds attractive on the surface, ultimately, what he'll end up teaching, as you point out, will fly in the face of both Christianity and the Messianic movement, especially in terms of Yeshua's identity.
I have to admit though, I'd love to read and review his book.
Me too. I've long thought of Shmuley as a good guy. He certainly has his share of unorthodox (no pun) ideas.
I know some Jews (particularly some Jewish bloggers, e.g. IsraellyCool) hate the guy and think he just wants a camera and a spotlight. But I kind of like Shmuley, I grew to like him after his "Shalom in the Home" show.
I certainly commend Rabbi Shmuley for being innovative and for not being afraid to reach out to non-Jews. I once characterized him as the "Carl Sagan" of Orthodox Judaism. He takes something really complicated for most people and makes it accessible. In the process though, he could be seen as pandering to the media, which was how many folks saw Sagan.
Blessings Everyone;
Very nice post regarding Shmuley's article. I am befuddled regarding his statement that Paul was a 'mysterious man.' From his (Paul's) own writings you can plainly see that he was very open about himself. Shmuley's perspective on what Paul's mission was is very interesting...he just wanted to spread Judaism stripped of ritual laws (not consistent with his own practice) heavy on moral laws dressed up in a human god? Ouch!! Shmuley is not an ignorant man, but I find his appraisal of the New Testament's purpose and content severely lacking...and yes we do know why that is...may the Spirit move him to see Messiah Yeshua!
I probably will read the book when it is released as this article and the discussion has peaked my interest. It will be interesting to read what Michael Brown has to say about the book.
I believe that we all know what his bottom line will be, however, it will still be interesting to see how he gets there; as Judah pointed out, there will certainly be Scriptural acrobatics to the highest degree.
Shalom;
Justin
Amein. I woke up this morning thinking, "You know, if he puts enough research into the New Testament, he'll be in for a shock when it comes to the real Yeshua and disciples."
Perhaps it's an opportunity for clarity, if not an opportunity for a softer heart towards Yeshua.
I can't considered that, Judah but if Rabbi Boteach has been in the process of writing this book for six years and he (as far as we know) hasn't been influenced by Yeshua yet, then he probably isn't able to get past his general preconceptions about the nature and character of Jesus.
I sometimes wonder though, how many "secret" Messianic Jews there are in the world who worship in Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform synagogues with their Jewish brothers and sisters yet quietly honoring Yeshua as Messiah and Lord.
Shalom,
As a non-Jewish believer in Messiah Yeshua I have seen many of my gentile brethren hopping off the fence and jumping over to Orthodox Judaism due to their hearts longing for Torah, set prayer times, and kosher diets. A wall of separation has been erected in many Messianic Congregations(Jews only, Gentiles come back on Sunday). So, this could dangerous in that our non-Jewish believers might get fed up with running into these brick walls and cross over to never come back.
I personally have a love for Torah, biblical holidays, and diet but had the door shut in my face by messianic rabbis. As a result, I've felt like hopping over the fence many times to the NOW opening arms of Rabbi's like the one in the article but do my own thing via FFOZ.ORG which itself has changed to "divine invitation" from "one law". This Rabbi's invitation has a crowd awaiting for such an approval.
Baton Rouge, La.
Sidney Webb
Blessings James;
Although I cannot provide any specific numbers, I have personally spoken to many Jews who have accepted Messiah Yeshua but have not left the traditional Jewish world. The biggest obstacle seems to be traditional Church culture in contrast to traditional Jewish culture; another reason I have heard is that they feel called to stay.
I have a friend who is now a 'conservadox' rabbi. We had lunch one day toward the end of his first year at JTS in NYC and he told me that he had considered going into Christian ministry but could not get over the difference between what he had read in the Hebrew NT and what he witnessed in the Churches he visited. I suggested he visit a few messianic Jewish synagogues...I never could get him to answer whether he had accepted Messiah or not.
I personally believe that more 'traditional' Jews will come to faith and remain in the synagogue as we approach His return.
Shalom;
Justin
I've experienced people in both situations and particularly in my personal life. My wife and I came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) in our early 40s. My wife's mother was Jewish (she passed away many years ago), but my wife wasn't raised in a Jewish home and had no experience "being Jewish".
Long story short, entering into Messianic Judaism after we left our previous church only whetted my wife's "appetite" for a Jewish lifestyle and community and she shot right through to the other side, first attending our local Reform shul and then finally the Chabad synagogue. For the first time in my life, I find myself in a "mixed marriage".
Ironically, your comments (Sidney and Justin) came in as I was finishing editing my latest blog post Stuggle, which addresses how each person negotiates their own faith, expression of worship, and relationship with God. Somewhere in the middle of our choices and our "identities", God is with us trying to help us make sense of it all.
Darn! That should be Struggle. Lousy typos. ;-)
Judah Gabriel posted links to a number of commentaries in the Messianic blogosphere on his latest Kineti L'Tziyon blog post regarding reactions to Rabbi Boteach's soon-to-be-published book. Both Derek Leman and Joshua Brumbach expressed concerns regarding how Rabbi Boteach's position could harm Jewish distinctiveness and identity by blurring the barriers that exist between Gentiles and Jews. I honestly don't think an Orthodox Rabbi, even one who so frequently presents his views in the media, is going to advocate for assimilating Judaism into the larger human population of the planet and Leman and Brumbach may be seeing more of an issue here than actually exists. While I want to be sensitive to the concerns of others, not every Gentile contact with Judaism (Messianic or otherwise) is cause to hit the "red alert" button.
If you've been following the conversation about Rabbi Boteach on this blog but not been aware of the other commentaries, I encourage you to take a look at the links to those articles on Judah's blog and feel free to weigh in on the matter. Maybe I'm way off base, but I don't see Rabbi Boteach's comments in the JPost article or his new book to be a serious threat to the existence of Judaism.
Blessings.
Shalom James,
I am currently reading a book by a Christian author about the Jewishness of Jesus. Now that I am half way through it I can clearly see that she is not Torah observant in the least. That in the past would have been enough to cause me to stop reading the book except for the fact that she has made some incredible observations that in all my Torahcentric studies in the past, I had failed to see.
I guess if a nonbelieving Jew wants to write a book about Yeshua, then I am not going to complain so loudly. When The Davinci Code came out, it gave me the chance to discuss theology with many nonmessianics because they knew of my passion for study.
I just pray that those who would spend so much time railing against this type of publication will be seen as approachable by those who might have questions about it.
Shalom, Jeff
Hi Jeff. I don't think a Gentile Christian has to be "Torah observant" to have insights into the nature and character of the Jewish Messiah. In fact, there are certain elements in Messianic Judaism who don't believe Gentile Christians *should* attempt to be Torah observant. For me, the jury is still out about what and how much of the Torah applies to Gentiles who are grafted in by the blood of the Messiah.
As far as a Jew writing a book about Jesus or the New Testament, Rabbi Boteach won't be the first. I suspect that there is a certain amount of curiosity about Jesus (Yeshua) among at least some Jewish people, regarding his teachings and his Judaism.
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