Looking for Myself

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do. -James 1:22-25

James (Ya'akov), the brother of the Master, provides us a lesson that seems simple and straightforward. At it's core, he is telling his audience that the Torah, the teachings of God, defines who we are as believers. More to the point, the Torah, it's commandments and ordinances, define who is a Jew.

Ok, it's not that simple. In a practical sense, a Jew is anyone who has a Jewish mother, even if they don't study or observe the Torah. A Jew is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A Jew is the inheritor of the Torah and the covenant promises as given by God through Moses at Sinai. For non-Jews, simply obeying the Torah commandments in some manner or fashion, all by itself, does not make us Jewish.

So what does the Bible define for "the rest of us"? Look at what James is saying.

No matter who you are, it's not enough to read or to listen to the word. That doesn't tell you who you are. You might as well be anonymous and faceless if that's all there was to it. No, it's doing what the word says that defines you. Kind of like this quote from a popular movie:

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.
Batman/Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale)
Batman Begins (2005)

Even the entertainment industry understands that "actions speak louder than words". However, while obeying the Torah commandments does not turn a Gentile into a Jew, following the directives to love God with everything we've got and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31 quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18) does tell us, and the rest of the world, who we are as Gentile disciples of the Jewish Messiah. That is how we find ourselves.

But there's a catch:

On today’s daf we find that the minchas kenaos clears up the sin by identifying the wrongdoer absolutely or by exonerating her of suspicion. Perhaps, in its own way, this is the hardest test for every Jew: to own up when we have failed so that we can really change our ways. Rav Yaakov Galinsky, shlit”a, points the challenge inherent in this with his usual biting humor. “In Novardohk they would tell a story of a certain young man who was always late for cheder. Day after day this child was punished, only to be tardy yet again the following day. One day the melamed asked the boy directly. ‘Why are you late every day?’

He answered, ‘Rebbe, my problems are that I am disorganized and forgetful. When I go to sleep each night I drop my clothes wherever and go to bed. The next morning it takes me a long time to get dressed. Is it any wonder that I come late?’

“The melamed offered practical advice. ‘All you need to do is to write a list of precisely where you dropped each article of clothing. The next morning when you wake up, consult the list and you will know exactly where you left your clothes the night before.’ “The boy went home with a lightened heart. The next day the child didn’t come at all. As soon as he was able, the melamed rushed to the young man’s house. He found the boy at his house, fully dressed but obviously very bewildered.

“What happened?” he asked.

“’I did exactly what you said. I wrote down that my tzitzis were in the garden, my shirt on the chair, my pants on the floor etc, I said hamapil with great joy and went to sleep. This morning I woke up and got dressed quickly but I still cannot locate the final item. It says clearly that I am in bed, but I checked my bed - and everywhere else - many times and cannot seem to find myself…’ ”

Rav Yaakov concluded, “This is obviously a joke, but it is so sad. How many of us are looking to find ourselves but cannot seem to do so! The very first question we will be asked in the next world is, ‘Ayekah?’ Where did you go and what did you do? Where did you plant yourself and what happened with you?”
from Daf Yomi Digest
Stories off the Daf
Identify the Problem
Menachos 60

For observant Jews, the Torah and Talmud define who they are, where they are from, where they can "look for themselves", and what they must do in this world to serve God and to love their neighbors. The Bible, and particularly the New Testament, provides a similar function to someone who self-identifies as a traditional Christian. Jews and Christians usually attend synagogues and churches that are affiliated with well-established movements in their respective religions. If a Jew goes to an Orthodox shul, that synagogue is affiliated with a larger organization of synagogues and there is a higher organizational accountability. If a Christian goes to a Baptist or Pentecostal church, that church also has certain affiliations and there is also an organizational accountability. Each house of worship teaches and offers worship services consistent with the larger groups with which they are affiliated. They do not make up their own "rules". Everyone knows who they are based on established standards.

In "Messianic Judaism", there are any number of "umbrella" organizations, but the vast majority of them are oriented around providing a Jewish religious context to Jews who believe that Jesus (Yeshua) is the Jewish Messiah. Of course, Gentiles are allowed to attend these synagogues, but there is no real focus on the duties, responsibilities, and purpose of non-Jewish disciples of the Jewish Messiah.

On top of that, a large number of "Messianic synagogues" are completely unaffiliated, particularly those that fall in the "One Law" category, which means they create their own standards, establish their own interpretations of the Bible, and define their own methods of being "Torah-observant." There is no higher accountability until you get to God and for a number of these congregations, their leader tells his "flock" that he reports directly to God and cannot otherwise be held to any standard of responsibility.

My own congregation is affiliated with the International Federation of Messianic Jews (IFMJ) but it's not a very effective organization. In the years I've been involved in the leadership and teaching duties in my group, I've never once heard from any member or authority (although they periodically make contact with another board member) and they provide nothing in the way of support or oversight. Besides accepting our "tithes" every quarter, they might as well not exist, relative to the day-to-day operations of our congregation. They certainly have no impact on what I write on the congregation's blog or teach to the congregational members.

As an individual, I probably fall within Derek Leman's definition of a Judeo Christian believer. I'm a Gentile person who is a disciple of the Jewish Messiah, but my theological and educational understanding is oriented in a more "Jewish" manner. I tend to see the Jewish teachings and text as the window into the understanding of the Messiah and of God, rather than a traditional Christian theological framework. People like me create and operate Bible study groups, fellowships, and congregations all of the time, but to the degree that there are no "parent" organizations specifically devoted to addressing my population group, most people like me are unaffiliated. We are making up our stories as we go along, not only for ourselves, but for other groups of people.

That's not a good thing. It's far too easy for unaffiliated individuals and groups to make up stories about who they are that don't reflect what God is saying to us. Alone, it's far too easy for us to introduce error and mistakes into our understanding and our practice.

That's both the reason I must leave the One Law movement and the danger I face in leaving the movement (or at least in not immediately joining some other religious group). Right now, I don't have a support group or authority to respond to beyond the board of the congregation but in leaving, I won't have even that. Of course, I won't be teaching anyone else either, so I won't run the risk of messing up other people if I make a mistake (and people who read my blog do so at their own risk...I'm just one guy and I can make mistakes).

Every morning I look in the mirror when I shave and I wonder who that person is looking back at me. In praying, and studying, and living what I hope is a "Godly" life, like the "certain young man" in the story from Novardohk, I am looking for myself. Yet, in all the places I'm looking, where am I to be found? When he turned up missing, the young man's Rebbe went looking for him. Is there anyone else looking for me?

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

The Miracle at the Shabbos Table

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. -John 14:11-14

There will come a time, very soon, when we will be shown miracles so great, they will make the ten plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea appear as ordinary as nature itself.

So great, no mind can begin to fathom them; so powerful, they will transform the very fabric of our world, elevating it in a way that the wonders of the exodus never did.

For then, our eyes will be opened and granted the power to see the greatest of miracles: Those miracles that occur to us now, beneath our very noses, every day.

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
Greater Miracles
Chabad.org

I don't know why, but I continue to be amazed at how the teachings of Jesus (Yeshua) parallel the Talmudic masters and even the modern Jewish sages. They are all painting the same picture and revealing the same vision. We are all looking for miracles and we are all looking to God to provide those miracles. Even with evidence of the hand of God all around us, we can still fail to see what He is doing in the world and in our lives.

I suppose this shouldn't surprise us. Face it. The world is a mess. You have problems. I have problems. The world has problems. Where is God? Just look at His holy nation; the one He established Himself. We have members of the Fogel family murdered in their sleep in their Itamar home by Palestinian terrorists. Hamas fired a rocket from Gaza at a school bus critically injuring a teenage boy who later died. Several young Jewish men were murdered by Palestinian police while worshiping at Joseph's tomb in Nablus. Where does it all end? Where are the miracles of God? Why isn't He saving His people?

Any Jew alive on the face of this planet today is a walking miracle. Our mere existence today is wondrous, plucked from the fire at the last moment again and again, with no natural explanation that will suffice. Each of us alive today is a child of martyrs and miracles.

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
Walking Miracle
Chabad.org

The fact that there are Jews on earth today at all is a miracle. For thousands of years, the world has been trying to exterminate the Children of Israel, and it always seems like the Jewish people are on the verge of extinction. Yet we still have Jews among us. As much as the world hates Jews and hates Israel, the world needs the presence of the light of the world.

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” -Isaiah 49:6

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the tzitzit of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” -Zechariah 8:23

In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.

Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The Torah will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. -Micah 4:1-2

And lest you think that Israel has irredeemably failed God and that the Christians have taken over, here is Paul's commentary on the matter:

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.” -Romans 11:25-27

It's not just that Israel is part of God's plan. In many ways, Israel is the plan. The salvation of the rest of the world depends on the Jewish people. We Gentiles will turn to them in the last days and through the Jewish Messiah, we are all redeemed.

However, even the most far reaching cosmic plan can have very humble elements. God created the miracle of the nation of Israel and through his mercy, sustains each and every Jew. Yet we see that every individual has a part in that mission, even down to a single parent and how he or she raises their children.

Rav Shmuel Aharon Lider, shlit”a, learns a beautiful lesson from this. “We see from this that Shabbos is the time for us to sanctify and educate our children at the table. The best way to be mechanech and sanctify our children is through the zemiros that we sing and the divrei Torah that we say at the Shabbos table.”

Rav Shach, zt”l, had a neighbor - a simple baal habayis who was not too learned - whose sons grew to all be exceptional masmidim and great talmidei chachamim. Rav Shach himself lived and breathed Torah all the time, yet his neighbor’s children appeared to surpass his own in certain ways as far as Torah study was concerned.

Rav Shach himself commented on what seemed to him at the root of the distinction. “My neighbor spent a long time at the Shabbos table interacting with his children and singing zemiros. I, on the other hand, was always very engrossed in working through a difficult Rambam or some other intricate Torah argument. One should never underestimate the power of filling the children with a spirit of holiness through the simple singing of zemiros and speaking divrei Torah at their own level at the Shabbos table!"

Daf Yomi Digest
Stories off the Daf
The Power of the Shabbos Table
Menachos 50

Here we see a miracle. One does not have to be an exceptional Jewish Torah scholar or exalted sage or saint in order to raise children who are close to God. We can also extend the metaphor, so to speak, beyond Israel. We can apply what else we've learned in this short lesson and say that by the Gentiles attaching themselves (ourselves) to Israel through the Jewish Messiah, we can also share in the miracle of not only continuing in the world, but of being able to belong to God.

The Torah has gone forth from Zion and, as the Master sometimes said, "to those who have ears, let them hear".

Shabbat Shalom.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

The Diseased Messiah

Our Sages ask: “What is Mashiach’s name?” and reply “The leper of the House of Rebbi.” This is very difficult to understand. Mashiach will initiate the Redemption, and is associated with the pinnacle of life and vitality. How can his name be linked with leprosy (tzaraas), which is identified with death and exile?

-from Mashiach's Name
Commentary on Torah Portion Metzora; Leviticus 14:1-15:33
Chabad.org

He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
-Isaiah 53:3-4

Both Christianity and Judaism understand the above-quoted passage from the Prophet Isaiah to refer to the Messiah. The "suffering servant" aspect of Jesus is well integrated into Christian belief, but it presents something of a problem in Judaism, where the Messiah is seen as a conquering King and a "political" figure who will return self-rule of the totality of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, and establish an era of peace for the entire world.

The Chabad commentary continues:

There is still a difficulty. Although the above passage explains why Mashiach must endure suffering, it does not show why that suffering is identified with Mashiach. Mashiach’s name who he is should be positive.

The First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ) commentary presents a very similar take on how this coming Shabbat's Torah portion applies to the Messiah. As you can see, they mirror the Chabad's understanding and cite the same sources:

And the rabbis say: "[The name of Messiah] is The Leper of the House of Study, as it is said, 'Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.'" -Sanhedrin 98b

If you've been reading my blog posts lately, you'll know I believe that we (non-Jewish disciples of the Jewish Messiah) can achieve a better understanding of the Master we serve, by trying to see him through the eyes of his original disciples and their descendants; the Jewish people. I am beginning to gather some significant insights into the Messiah by reading and probing Talmudic and Chasidic thoughts on the matter. I am even occasionally amazed on how well some of these teachings illustrate the life and teachings of Yeshua (Jesus).

But while Judaism, at least in some perspectives, expects two Messiahs and not one (one a suffering servant and the other a conquering King), Christians and Messianics can see the one person being both the "diseased" Messiah and the ruling Messiah.

He has already removed the barrier that separates man from the divine by bearing our sufferings, our diseases, and our wounds (which he did not deserve but he took upon himself because we did...and do). May he come soon and in our day to repair our broken world and to reign over us all in justice and mercy.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:9-11

Amen.

Update: Friday, April 8: For more, read The Leper Scholar by Joshua Brumbach.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

We Are Living Torahs

The deepest longing, therefore, of the genuine Chasid is to become a "living Torah." The keeping of the Law is to him only a means to an end: union with God. For this reason he tries to keep the Law scrupulously, for "God's thoughts are embodied in it."
-Paul Philip Levertoff
Love and the Messianic Age

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’
-Mark 12:28-33 (NRSV)

Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn"
-Shab. 31a

I know people who refer to Jesus as "the Living Torah"; the only being in human form who perfectly obeyed the will of God and did not sin. According to the early 20th century sage Paul Philip Levertoff, the true desire of a "genuine Chasid" is to imitate the Master and also exist as a living embodiment of the Torah; the will of our Creator. For a Jew, this means continual, scrupulous study of the Torah and Talmud and also living out that "knowledge" in one's day-to-day existence, striving to improve obedience with each passing moment.

But is obedience to the commandments the goal?

If a man is worthy, the Torah becomes for him a medicine of life, but if he is not, it is a deadly poison. This is what Raba explained. "If he uses the Torah properly it is a medicine of life unto him, but for him who does not use it properly, it is a deadly poison." -b.Yoma 72b

The aforementioned quote of the Talmud is taken from the commentary to Levertoff's book and may illustrate something for those of us who are non-Jewish disciples of the Jewish Messiah.

Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. -Galatians 5:2-6 (NRSV)

Paul seems to be contradicting both Christ's and Levertoff's perspectives on the Torah, but look at what Levertoff's source, the Talmud, is saying. What is it to use or misuse the Torah? The Chasidic Jewish tradition teaches that it's not enough to mechanically obey the commandments. Your intention must be correct. It not only matters what you do, but why you do it.

The Gentiles Paul is criticizing, as recorded above, most likely weren't desiring to convert to Judaism for their love of Torah or even for their love of God, but rather, because they had been convinced by outsiders, that they must convert to Judaism and take on the full weight of the yoke of Torah, in order to be disciples of Jesus; in order to be "living Torahs", just as the Master is our "living Torah."

However, it's not wearing tzitzit or laying tefillin that allows a Gentile disciple of Jesus access to God, but rather the desire within us to reach up to God through faith and trust in Jesus, and out of that desire to offer ourselves as "little Messiahs" to the rest of the world, by doing deeds of compassion, charity, and kindness.

I'm not drawing a conclusion at this point regarding the level of Torah observance that is proper for a Jewish Messianic disciple vs. a Gentile Christian disciple, but it seems clear from what we can read of Paul the Apostle and Paul the Chasidic disciple of Yeshua, that our approach to the Torah must be more than obedience for its own sake (although there is some merit in this if our desire is to also honor God). We must approach the Torah as if we are approaching the living essence of God, with a motivation not to take, but to give. Just as Jesus gave everything for us, including his own life, we must strive to be like him, "living Torahs" in the world, giving back to others the things we have so graciously received.

I don't want to end today's blog post without reminding everyone that the nation of Japan is in dire need of our help. Whatever you can do by donating funds or goods, please extend yourself to those who need you. Be a hero. Act in the Spirit of Jesus. Pray for Japan.

We're Here to Bring Mashiach

As a Jew, I believe that the coming of the Messiah does not depend on my belief that he will come, nor does it rest solely in God's hands. I believe it remains our task to bring the Messiah -- that he will arrive only when we are in a state of readiness to bring him, to welcome him, to appreciate him. Salvation must be earned. And thus it is what we do, as Jews, that will determine the time of the Messianic arrival.

from Bringing the Messiah - On Our Own Terms
by Rabbi Jerome Epstein
Published on September 1999
at The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism site

This isn't a message you'll hear preached from the pulpit of any Christian church. Christianity believes the second coming of Christ is an event fixed in time and known only to God, and there's nothing that anyone can do to make it come any sooner or to make it come any later. This isn't true from a Jewish perspective. Human beings are junior partners in God's creation and as such, we have an active role in the coming of the Mashiach.

Here's more from Rabbi Epstein:

The unique message of Jewish Messianism is that with courage, commitment, hope and effort, a corrupt world can be righted, a sick world can be healed. Messianism gave our ancestors a light in the darker times of our history. But Jewish Messianism also put responsibility into the hands of the people. We must not attach ourselves to a magical, mythical vision with unrealistic hopes that the Messiah will spontaneously appear and save us from our folly.

The last sentence apparently is Rabbi Epstein taking a shot at Christianity. If you read the full text of the article from which I'm quoting, you'll see that he's responding to an event sponsored by Southern Baptists in his community to encourage "Jews to convert to Christianity during the High Holy Days." Needless to say, he was not pleased.

Yet, in many ways, Christians and Jews are looking for the same thing. We're looking for God to hear our cry, to come and heal our broken world, and to come and live among His people. We are looking for the coming of the Messiah to bring justice and mercy into our midst, as He did with His people so many years ago:

When Moses had finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, on their various journeys; but if the cloud did not lift, they would not set out until such time as it did lift. For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys. -Exodus 40:33-38 (JPS Tanakh)

This coming Shabbat, I'm going to teach on the Divine among us, both as represented by the Divine Presence in the Mishkan and by the Messiah as he will return to us at the end of this age. But is there something we're supposed to do to prepare the world for his return?

God tests us each day by challenging us to help others use their potential to become the Messiah. That is our real contribution. If the potential Savior is sitting next to us, right now, how should we react? If we tell our children how much we appreciate them, perhaps their hidden skills will be revealed. If our friends sense the importance to us of their support, their contribution to others may grow. If we help our spouses remember what drew them to us, those qualities may reawaken. In short, if the potential Messiah is sitting next to us, our task is to help cultivate that potential. What we do makes a difference.

From a Jewish point of view, the Messiah could be anyone. In fact, it may not be apparent to the Messiah that he, in fact, is the Messiah before it is revealed to him. If we were to assume that anyone we know could be the Messiah, what would we do to encourage him and to bring him to a point where he will be ready to fix a damaged creation? This begs a further question. If we, indeed, have something to do with repairing the world and summoning the Messiah, are we not "little fixers" in our own right; are we not just a little bit "Messianic"?

I'm not suggesting that we necessarily have any power to override God's timetable as far as the Messiah's coming is concerned, but perhaps we are more a part of that timetable than we've previously imagined? What if our actions really do make a difference? What if feeding even one hungry person, encouraging even one discouraged child, or visiting even one lonely person in the hospital, are all intermingled threads in God's overarching tapestry to send the Messiah to us and to, on a cosmic scale, do what we are supposed to be doing all along as the Messiah's disciples?

We ask God to save us and to redeem His lost sheep. If we expect this from Him, how can we not do the same to those in need around us? Not only can we be the answer to someone's prayers to God, we, in our own small way, can be a small part of the Messiah, fixing our damaged world...one hurt at a time.

In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love. -Mother Teresa

"A Jew never gives up. We're here to bring Mashiach, we will settle for nothing less." -Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

The Presence of Faith

In Your presence, thats where I am strong
In Your presence O the Lord my God
In your presence that's where I belong
Seeking Your face
Touching Your grace
In the cleft of the rock
In your presence O God.

Words and Music by Lynn DeShazo
Performed by Paul Wilbur
1995 Integrity's Hosanna! Music

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. -Matthew 8:5-10

Back to Basics Tour, Part 2

I'm trying to find some of those things in the Bible that everyone in the Messianic and Christian communities have in common without stepping on toes and tails. Issues of defensiveness and divisiveness often characterize the larger "Messianic movement", especially in the eyes of the greater body of Christian believers, and these arguments tend to discredit our chosen method of worship, even discrediting the Jews in Messianic Judaism. What do we have in common with our Christian brothers and sisters? How can we all say together that we are disciples of the Messiah?

I ask that question, though technically a Christian, as one who is off, slightly to one side, since my perspective on many matters favors Israel and Jewish worship styles rather than what you would find in a traditional church. As a Christian man married to a Jewish woman who keeps a Jewish home, my perspective and orientation tends to be more "Jewish". But see, even now, I can easily find ways in which the different members of the body of believers are different and apart.

But how are we together?

I just quoted the words of the Master as recorded in Matthew 8:5-10 and he said something amazing. He recognized the faith of a Roman centurion, a non-Jew, and praised the depth of his faith. The Jewish Messiah even held up this Goy's faith as an example to his Jewish disciples and followers. Can the Messiah of the Jews acknowledge the faith of a Gentile as an authentic faith?

I ask that last question somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because Yeshua's (Jesus's) words are plain. Jewish faith isn't of superior quality or better accepted by God than Gentile faith. We can agree that the Jews are God's "treasured, splendorous people" and nothing removes their status before Him, yet we who are not Jewish are not unloved by God. Paul said "neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah, you are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:28-29 CJB) Can we agree on that, or am I speaking in vain?

In Romans 11, Paul describes faith as the "glue" that attaches both the natural Jewish branches and the alien Goyim branches to a common root. Even an alien branch can be grafted in to the source by faith and even a natural branch can be knocked off because of lack of faith. It's the same glue.

It's easy to forget that we all have this in common, each and every one of us who acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah, Lord, and Master. Regardless of how we may view each other, there is only one "type" of faith that we have accessible to each of us. How we express faith and worship may vary between Jew and Christian, between one congregation and the next, between one tradition and the next, but the ineffable essence and quality of faith is the same. I pray no one sees this as incorrect.

There is also a need for persistence and endurance of faith as recorded in the following parable:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” -Luke 18:1-8

The "birth pangs" of the re-association between Jewish Messianics and Gentile Christians is painful indeed and we're just seeing the start of it. I don't believe that God intends for our two communities, which are "united" by a single shepherd, to remain totally estranged and isolated forever, and we are someday to have fellowship in Him. Yet, looking at the entire continuum containing the various congregations of the Messiah, it would be easy to lose faith. Certainly mine has been significantly dampered in recent weeks and months, and I can see how the "Son of Man" can ask "will he find faith?"

There's so much confusion between who we are, what we do, what "Torah" to obey between Jews and Christians, and issues of faith. It's easy to confuse or substitute form for substance. Paul wrote about this:

..even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous on the ground of his observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua's trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah's trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our observance of Torah commands. For on the ground of observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous. -Galatians 2:16 CJB

We need to define, not just what separates us, but what binds us. If we can't do that, we have no hope. We might as well continue to operate in two separate camps, being distinctive, and unique, and perserving our identities at the cost of the desires of the Messiah to also make the Gentiles into disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We have all been (and I believe this means all of us, not just Jews and not just Gentiles) commanded to love one another as the Master's disciples (John 13:34-35) and it's by this love that the rest of the world will know we belong to Yeshua.

This is a command we don't obey very well. However, love is even more important than faith in the Messianic realm:

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13:8-13

As Paul says, we don't see very clearly yet. That's probably why all the different denominations and factions in Christianity and the Messianic movement seem so confused. When Messiah comes, much more will be revealed, including how we have succeeded and how we have failed in matters of love and faith. I can only hope and pray that we all consider these words and question our own "self-righteousness" in how we treat our fellow disciples, no matter how different they may be from us.

There's a quote uttered by actor Harrison Ford in the film Air Force One (1997):

Peace isn't merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.

Adapting the quote, I'd like to believe that righteousness isn't just the absence of sin, but the presence of faith. We can only be persistent in our faith and love if we are attached to the Master. In his own words, apart from me, you can do nothing (John 15:5).

In His Presence, we are strong, and we are the body of the Messiah...all of us.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark, ignoring the light of the world. Look for the lamp who lights your path or you may become lost in the dark forever.

"A Jew never gives up. We're here to bring Mashiach, we will settle for nothing less." -Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Near Empty

If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.

-Chinese Proverb

It came down to Chicken Soup for the Soul or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. My appetite could go in either direction and I wasn't sure which one was more appealing. I was at the public library during my lunch hour today, and even though I already had a book of my own to read, I found I really wasn't in the mood for 1930s vintage science fiction.

As I often do, I found myself wandering among the rather meager selection of Jewish religion books on the second floor and glanced at Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul. I almost picked it up, but given recent conversations on the web, I wondered if it would be "kosher". Actually, I just wondered if it would even fit.

I was pulled between two poles: the need to find something to rekindle my spirit and the desire to "give in" to a sense of personal "fear and loathing" relative to religion (as opposed to "faith"?). I found Thompson's "Fear and Loathing" book and pulled it off the shelf. I also selected the more generic version of "Chicken Soup" trading in my "pastrami and kosher dill on rye and Jewish chicken soup" for the safer "peanut butter and jelly on wheat" reading selection.

I carried both books to a seat by the window in the back and pondered for a minute which one I should start first. I'd never read either book before and thought I should check them out, but I had to start with one of them. Both books are well known and considered classics in their own right. Chicken soup or fear and loathing? I'd been meaning to read them for years. What was I in the mood for?

I decided that chicken soup was probably healthier for me.

As the minutes to my lunch hour ran out, I decided to only check out Chicken Soup and I put Fear and Loathing back on the shelf (for the time being, anyway).

Forty-six pages into Canfield and Hansen's book and I can say that I'm only marginally interested. The thought of reading a book written by two motivational speakers isn't really "inspiring" to me. They generally promise to sell you a new personality (at inflated rates) and what you actually get is a few hours or, if you're lucky, a few days of elevation, followed by a return to your regularly scheduled life. That's not permanent change, it's just a temporary loan.

But I checked out Chicken Soup, so I might as well see it through. So far, a few of the stories have been heartwarming, a few have been tearjerkers, a few seem a little too contrived, and particularly one story seemed just plain strange ("I taught the audience how to vigorously rub their hands together, separate them by two inches and feel the healing energy"...huh?). I certainly hope more of the tales are of the "heartwarming" variety.

If you haven't guessed, I'm trying to find a compass heading that points me in the direction of who I am and what God wants me to do. Over the past several months, I've received a number of conflicting, if not confusing messages from a variety of sources. It's like walking into the Men's department at a clothing store and shopping for a sports coat. The different sales people keep making suggestions and giving me jackets to try on, but either the color is bad on me, they're too big, they're too small, the fabric itches, or something else doesn't seem quite right.

I don't know. Maybe I'm picky. After all, each one of these coats seems to fit each of the sales people offering them just fine. They just don't fit me.

Paul says there's a "peace beyond all understanding" but I can't seem to find it. Yeshua (Jesus) said the following:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30

I've been following the conversation on Derek Leman's blog post Not Jewish Yet Drawn to Torah, Part 8, but it seems rather cerebral at this point. I don't have a problem with good scholarship, but it's not my primary need right now.

All of these debates about "yes, you can pray with tefillin", "no you can't" "obligated vs. permitted", "you can only rest on Shabbat if you don't do it jewishly" just aren't taking me in the right direction.

I think I need something more basic. Where's that guy who said "I will give you rest"? I'll take some of that, please.

Fractured

James, also - I am good friends with many Gentile Christians. Just talked to a pastor friend the other day about his plans to plant a new church, and me and my wife are meeting with our close friends, a Christian couple for dinner next week. What they all have in common is that none of them have any desire to be part of a Jewish congregation (yes, they came to visit) but all of them are VERY supportive of the work G-d is doing among Jewish believers.

I would like to add that Gentiles in "Messianic Movement" should first reconcile with their Christian Gentile brothers BEFORE they take on any issues they see with lack of unity with their Jewish brothers.

-Gene Shlomovich

Gene made these rather pointed statements on my blog post Messianic Principles of Faith. For the past six months, I've been attempting to find a middle ground between Jews and non-Jews in the Messianic movement, but in one way or another, I've been told that not only don't non-Jews belong in "the movement", but that it's impossible for us to call ourselves "Messianic". The most recent round of conversations I've tried to record in what I call my Bilateral Ecclesiology and the Gentiles Series has continued to build on a chain of thoughts leading to a single conclusion. I'll tell you what that conclusion is by the end of this post.

Bilateral Ecclesiology Supposition

Jews in the Messianic movement who support the concept and "theology" of Bilateral Ecclesiology state, in part, that Messianic Jews and Christian Gentiles can only have "unity" (or stand along side each other, but I'm not sure that is "unity"), if each group occupies separate and distinct faith, worship, and educational communities that support their unique identities. Messianic Jews must exist in a synagogue environment consistent with the other Judaisms currently in existence, and be allowed to have alignment and community with all other Jews and with Israel as Jewish covenant members. In order to accomplish this, few, if any, non-Jews would be welcome to participate on any level within a Messianic Jewish group except in the role of occasional visitor. The only viable exception would be if a non-Jew were married to a Jew and, for the sake of the Jewish member of the Messianic group, the non-Jew spouse would be allowed to attend.

In short, Bilateral Ecclesiology states that Jews must live as Jews and Gentiles must live as Gentiles. God planned for Gentiles to develop the Christian church system as defined by the past 2,000 years of church history. Regardless of the dissonance between Jews and Christians that history creates, the church as the only Christian worship venue for non-Jews must be maintained for the sake of Jewish distinctiveness in the Messianic movement. There are no other options.

Disclaimers

Before I go on, I want to say that nothing I'm writing here means that I don't have high regard for my fellow believers in the Christian church in my local community and all over the world. In my teaching and other interactions within my current congregation, I have defended the church and traditional Christianity. Some non-Jewish "One Law" believers tend to have a chip on their collective shoulder when it comes to the church and, while no worship community is perfect and without flaws, I have attempted to dispel poor attitudes towards the church in general and to encourage fellowship.

I also want to say that I hold Gene Shlomovich in high regard and I even thought we could have a friendship as time passed. I know it looks like I'm picking on him, but he's really representing a large organizational opinion that is gathering momentum in the Messianic movement, particularly with the Jewish members who have been raised in a religious and ethnic Jewish home and who, from childhood, have self-identified as Jews (there are exceptions, but this is the general trend as I see it). While there are Jewish people in "the movement" who are more accepting of non-Jewish members, it seems clear that a significant population of Jewish people in the Messianic world are unable to tolerate the presence of non-Jews as members of their communities. Their heartfelt desire is to establish and continue fellowship with their non-Jewish counterparts but only if the non-Jews are aligned and affiliated with the Christian church. From their perspective, no relationship can possibly exist with a Christian if that Christian desires entrance into a Jewish worship venue or for any reason whatsoever, does not desire to attend a church.

Response

Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, I want to proceed to the response. This is part of why, despite the requirements of Bilateral Ecclesiology and Messianic Judaism, I cannot return nor would I be welcome in a church setting. Some of the following content was previously posted in the blog Forked.

1. Acceptance: The last time I was in a church Sunday school and said I didn't think that the Law died on the cross with Jesus, I received a rather cool (not the good kind) response. My core values include an acceptance of the Torah for Jewish believers and a benefit of Torah study for Christians. In order to be accepted in a Christian church setting, I would have to keep my mouth shut tight except for superficial, polite conversation which is going to kill most opportunities for authentic fellowship, especially if the church is supposed to be where God wants me to be.
2. Education: If I have to go through one more Kay Arthur canned, programmed, "beloved", Bible study, I'm going to puke. I design teachings so people can ask questions, even the hard ones, so that people can really participate and share their perspectives, so that people can disagree and by such debates, explore their assumptions in order to learn and grow, not just so people can agree to the "party line". I'm not saying that Christian education is poor, but there aren't a lot of opportunities to stretch and develop and, as you know, I like questioning assumptions. You cannot seriously question an assumption in Sunday school. I've tried. It doesn't go over well. Again, I'll have to shut up.
3. Ceremony: My family and I gave up Christmas and Easter long ago and we have no regrets. Even if I chose not to "celebrate" those events in my home, as part of a church, I'd be expected to participate in them in corporate worship and to at least fake being excited at the approach of the Christmas play. On a more specific note, a family my wife and I knew at our former church were recently asked to leave said-church. Reason? Like my family, they made a decision not to celebrate Christmas. The husband and wife are intelligent, reasonable people (and not religious wack jobs, as you might be assuming) who made this decision as a matter of conscience. The church chose not to honor their decision and evicted them instead.
4. Food: I keep what the local Chabad Rabbi calls "kosher-style" which amounts to following the Leviticus 11 guidelines for what is and isn't food. It's a personal conviction of mine (and I don't care if you say I don't "have" to or not, I "choose" to), so pretending I'm allergic to all pork, shellfish, and other treif products will be tough over the long haul. On top of that, when the last kid leaves our home, my wife wants to kasher our kitchen and take a more serious approach to kashrut. Since I live with my wife (and I agree with her decision, by the way), I'll also be following that approach. I don't even begin to know how to explain this in a church setting without offending just about everyone.
5. Lying: This actually encompasses all of the points I've already made because I'd have to do a considerable amount of lying to be able to operate within the parameters of what's expected in a church. Even keeping my mouth shut or forcing myself to stuff it with a ham sandwich is a form of lie. Why should I be compelled to lie in the house of God?
6. Hypocrisy and worse: The single thing I can't swallow about the Church is replacement theology. While I've been repeatedly criticized by MJ/BE proponents of supporting replacement theology, that same group says I should attend a religious organization that's almost guaranteed to practice some version of this. I've recently been told by an MJ/BE proponent, that replacement theology or supersessionalism, isn't such a big deal in the church anymore. Maybe that's true in some churches, but my experience is that it's not universally true. I'm not coming home from Sunday school and telling my wife that my teacher says I replaced her in the covenant promises of God.
7. Marriage: My wife is Jewish and even in terms of my current worship, she has to conceal certain items in our home when she has friends from shul over. My association in the "Messianic" world has tainted me as far as sharing any sort of worship with her at the Chabad synagogue. Imagine how much more difficult life would be like for her if I became a regular church attender. Adding to this, my personal "theology" if you will, has a lot of "Jewish elements". While I can never attend any of the Chabad Rabbi's classes, I really enjoy going over my wife's class material with her. It's really expanded my understanding of Judaism, and, in it's own way, my understanding of my wife and God.

There are additional issues. I know a couple (who attend a Messianic group about 25 or 30 miles away from where I live) who are intermarried. Like my family, the husband is a non-Jew and the wife is Jewish. In their case, they are both "Messianic" and in fact, her father is also a Messianic Jew (who lives in another state). Like my wife and I, they previously attended a church (a different one than my wife and I attended) and when the wife started exploring her Judaism more demonstratively (by lighting the Shabbat candles and abstaining from eating pork products), she was told to leave the church because she was "under the law". This was a very painful experience for the couple. They had many friends and strong ties with their church, but in that case, her Jewishness did not mix with their understanding of the love of the Jewish Messiah.

On a more personal level, like in my current worship venue, attending a church means I would be worshiping alone; that is to say, without my wife. We previously worshiped together in a church, a "Messianic" setting, and at the local Reform synagogue, but while I felt I "belonged" with the "Messianic" group, my wife was drawn toward the Chabad. Somewhere along the line, I'm not sure when, she gave up her faith in Yeshua and adopted a traditional Jewish viewpoint of Jesus which she currently maintains. It grieves me that we cannot worship God as a couple, but I can fully understand why she wouldn't step foot in any Messianic congregation, even one that held to the strict interpretation of Bilateral Ecclesiology.

The effect of my being "Messianic", for lack of a better term, is that I can no longer set foot in any Jewish synagogue, at least where people might know I'm "Messianic", not only because of how the Rabbi and congregation would react to me, but because it would damage my wife's relationships. Beyond my congregation there is a much larger, though loosely associated, collection of Gentile "Messianics" in my area who, for some reason or another, attend services and classes at the local synagogues, I can't take the risk of going and being recognized. My wife has gone so far as to say that, even if I were to give up the Messianic congregation, I still shouldn't attend any local Jewish gathering.

Attending a church, in spite of everything I said above, while it wouldn't spark as severe a response from the local synagogues, would still require that my wife and I worship apart. It wouldn't erase my "Messianic" associations, so not only is worshiping at a church "problematic", worshiping in the synagogue with my wife is also not an option.

But there's more.

Assume I attended a church. Sooner or later, people are going to find out I'm married and ask about my wife. I could lie and say she's in a coma and is "unavailable" to attend services with me, but I'd probably tell the truth and say she's Jewish and prefers to worship with other Jews. I don't doubt that, because she's "unsaved", someone out of sincere kindness would say they'd pray for her salvation and return to Jesus.

But she doesn't want them to pray for her and I support my wife in her pursuit of her Jewish identity and relationships. It's just a world I can never share. Kind of like the world of Messianism. How would that go over in a church?

For over ten years, I thought I'd found a "spiritual home", but now that has been put in a state of uncertainty. I have to either determine that I should stay where I am "because it's where I've been planted" and to tell the Messianic Jewish world to go take a flying leap, or, out of respect, I can leave my current congregation and exit all of the conversations in the Messianic blogosphere.

Gene suggested that I read a blog written by FFOZ founder Boaz Michael called Respect the Work that God is Doing. I did. The blog post is made up significantly of quotes from a Pastor Boaz knows who, in addition to being aligned with the goals of Messianic Judaism and not being supersessionalist, believes his work as a Pastor is in the church. I think Gene was telling me that the church isn't all that bad, some churches have goals and perspectives that generally align with Messianism, and that I am being unfair to churches by holding the attitudes and experiences I've talked about earlier in this article.

I don't have an issue with what the Pastor said on Boaz's blog. I believe that many, perhaps most, Christians are supposed to be in a church setting. I don't have a problem with anyone who feels this way. I can only say that I don't feel like I'm supposed to be in a church setting. However, that attitude usually gets me branded as a malcontent or otherwise as a person hostile to Christianity, regardless of how untrue it happens to be. Here's an example from Boaz's blog quoting the Pastor that makes a special point:

There is a story about Ghandi that says one day while he was reading the gospels he was intrigued by Jesus, So he decided to check him out. So on a Sunday he went to a Church in South Africa where he was living at the time and was stopped at the door. He was told that this church was only for white, English people and if he wanted a "black" church there was one a mile down the road. Ghandi wrote, "I would be a Christian today, if it were not for the Christians." I am beginning to feel that way about those in the Hebrew roots movement.

In essence, based on that story and particularly the Pastor's last sentence, my personal stance is interpreted as one where I am not acting as the Jewish Messiah would have me act, because I don't feel comfortable in a church setting.

Conclusion

So now what? I don't know...well, yes I do. I just don't want to admit it.

Part of me just wants to cut ties with the Messianic world, both locally with "my" congregation and with the Messianic blogosphere. While I can't comply with the desires of Messianic Judaism and return to a church setting, I will at least be one less splinter in their eye. There are some problems with this decision, however.

Right before Yom Kippur last year (2010/5771), I gave the board of directors at my congregation the opportunity to accept my resignation. Because I was "unequally yoked" and in a position of leadership and authority, I felt "compromised" relative to the Bible's directives regarding leaders in the "church". While the board understood my concerns, because we are a small congregation and resource-limited, and because I provide a significant amount of services to the congregation (teaching, blogging, website creation and management, transportation of the elderly, organization of the food drive, and so forth), they said they really wanted me to stay.

Since I, unlike many Gentile-driven Messianic groups, require that any one leader in our group, especially me, be under the authority of a larger governing body within the congregation, I accepted their decision. I stayed and continued to provide for the congregation in the places where I was needed.

I also promised to teach a class starting at the end of January and going (probably) through May. It should be (just my opinion) an interesting class and a lot of people, in and outside of our congregation are looking forward to it. I don't want to back out at the last second just because of how I feel and how others feel about me.

I didn't anticipate writing this particular blog post for another five or six months, but there seemed to be no other way to adequately respond to Gene's comments.The cat's out of the bag, now.

I want to apologize to those people who may be following this blog and, even though you don't comment, read and are supported by its content. I feel like I've let you down by even writing this post, but one of the things this blog is designed to do is to be my personal reflection and response to issues of faith and relationship. That means, I don't pull punches and I don't cut corners. I'm not here to be "politically correct" and while I've tried to be civil, polite, and respectful, I'm not going to lie. This blog isn't just a series of essays on theological topics, but also a record of my journey along the path and in search of the "light of the world".

I also want to apologize again to anyone reading this who is a Christian and attends a church. It is not my intention to show you, Jesus, or God the Father any disrespect. This missive is completely my responsibility and my expression of the thoughts and challenges I've been facing for the past six months in what I originally called fractured fellowship. As it stands, I'm not the one to build the bridge, apply the super glue, or wrap up the relationship with duct tape. As Gene previously said, I guess I have no right to even address issues of Christian/(Messianic) Jewish relationships if I have no affiliation with a church. That seems to be a condition that keeps hitting me in the face again and again.

Like I said earlier, I was hoping for a miracle to occur within the next five or six months that would somehow resolve the various levels of dissonance I'm experiencing, but I don't know if that miracle will ever occur. Doors are slamming shut all around me but despite that, I'll fulfill  and complete my current commitments. When that's done, I'll look and see if God opened even a single door for me. If there's an opening, I'll go through it and accept the consequences for everything I've done. If not, then I'll follow the exit sign and my relationship with God will become solely between the two of us.

Future Imperfect

Will I continue to blog? Probably, if for no other reason than because this blog is the most direct method I have to express the reflection of my mind, emotions, and spirit in operation.

That's the best I can do for now.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I just want to remind you that I've launched the Mike and Morrie comic strip blog and am putting up a few test images. It looks very lonely over there compared to this blog. Go on over and have a look.

Here's a basic test. You'll see this drawing over there along with something else. Cheers.

Pursuing Sacred Cows

I thought I'd take a moment and pause amid frantic blogging and other activities to bring some of you up to date with what I'm doing and why I blog here. I "officially" write for my congregation's blog on matters that are of interest and concern, both to the congregation and (hopefully) to the Messianic community at large. However, as a representative of my congregation, I have a responsibility to write in a "voice" that reflects the nature and character of our group and as a part of the body of Messiah (Christ). On the other hand, there are times when I have another "voice"; my individual and personal voice.

On the personal side of my faith, I struggle with my faith in attempting to understand who I am in God. I sometimes imagine that everyone else in the community of faith has found their nice, comfortable niche and have settled into the secure arms of certainty for a long winter's nap, while I am still outside in the storm, fighting dragons and demons in my quest to discover my relationship with God (or tilting at windmills, take your pick).

OK, that's overly dramatic, but I do see faith and the pursuit of faith as a kind of struggle. I even blogged on this topic not too long ago. In fact, referencing that blog post, this is part of how I envision the struggle:

For years I had struggled with the theology of Catholicism, a theology which emphasizes belief. Once I seriously questioned that belief, the roots of my faith were shattered. Though I was taught that deeds were important, the stress was on having faith, on "believing in" something, even though or perhaps especially because it evaded all reason. In Judaism, by contrast, it is the emphasis on action, on righteous behavior that I find so attractive. The allowance, sometimes encouragement, of questions concerning belief, God, and truth is such a welcome relief. One can be religious and question; in fact, it is one's duty to question. Once I had learned that Israel meant "to struggle with God", I felt my destiny at hand.
by Lydia Kukoff in her book
Choosing Judaism

I started this blog last July to investigate the struggle in my own faith and the struggle of trying to integrate, or at least invite fellowship between Gentiles and Jews in the Messianic movement. Five months later, the struggle continues, with mixed results.

I must admit that the struggle is also one based on my personality and self identity and, while God is the author of who I am, I've also been tinkering around with his creation (me) for the past 56 years, so I have to take responsibility at this point, for what I've done with his basic handiwork. This blog is the result.

In questioning my own assumptions about faith and about a Gentile's place in the "sheep pen" of the Jewish Messiah, I also must question the assumptions of others. This makes me the pursuer and occasionally the slayer of "sacred cows". No one likes to have their sacred cows picked on and anyone who has the nerve to try will likely become unpopular.

Over these past several months, I've "taken on" various sacred cows with different degrees of zeal, but my most recent blog post (besides this one) is fully confronting the One Law/One Torah sacred cow. Keep in mind, I'm not necessarily aligning with one group over the other. If it were that simple, this blog may well not exist and I'd simply align with a particular organization or leader and settle quietly into that niche. What I am trying to do instead is to perform a bit of honest exploration on my own and see what comes up, without depending on drinking anyone's kool-aid.

Many other writers in the Messianic blogosphere focus on their areas of expertise and perhaps their comfort zones. We all like our comfort zones. I like my comfort zone. It's nice and cozy there. I've just been having trouble finding a comfort zone in the community of faith lately. Not that I don't take comfort from God and not that I can't be eased by the Spirit of the Messiah, but how that life of faith is to be lived out is another story. My personal story is compounded by the fact that my wife is Jewish but not Messianic. That means the one person in my life that God designed for me to share all of my inner self with cannot share my faith, nor can I embrace her faith which must deny the Messiah.

So I chase cows.

I try to be polite about it, but someone has to ask these silly questions. Recently, Judah Gabriel Himango commented in one of my blogs that "...since you've been pining on about gentiles..." The nature of text-only blog comments doesn't always allow me to understand the intent or mood of the commenter, so I don't know exactly what Judah meant by that statement, but when I looked up the definition of pining, it said, a feeling of deep longing. That's the noun. Synonyms (in verb form) are "ache", "yearn", "yen", "languish". In some stories, young, star-crossed lovers separated for months or years on end tend to "pine" for one another.

I don't know if that's what Judah meant to say.

However, as a Gentile in "the movement", I speak with the voice of a Gentile who is trying to understand how or if "the rest of us" fit into the Kingdom of God. I don't doubt that God accepts us. Otherwise, why did Yeshua do what he did? Why did the Messiah die for all humanity? Why would the Messiah send Paul as an emissary to the Gentiles? Why did God unfold a sheet of trief in front of Peter and then go tell him to have a meal with the Gentile God-fearer Cornelius?

But what does it all mean and how does it all work on a day-to-day basis? That's why I chase down sacred cows. It's my way of separating the chaff from the wheat in order to get down to the answer, if we can ever get to the answer. Chasing cows and removing chaff takes is a lot of work. It's pursuing faith. It's a struggle. That's why I'm here.

I chase cows.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

All that the Lord has Spoken

Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, and Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me. Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel." Moses came and summoned the elders of the people and put before them all that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered as one, saying, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do!" And Moses brought back the people's words to the Lord. -Exodus 19:2-8 (JPS Tanakh )

This is the moment when the Children of Israel agreed to obey all of the commandments of God, God's Torah, as a single people. While modern Judaism considers the Torah to be comprised of 613 specific positive and negative commandments, in a recent article on my congregation's blog, I published information indicating that, in the modern era and particularly in the diaspora (anywhere outside of Israel), observant Jews can only obey roughly 200 of the mitzvot, and even that number may be a bit of a stretch. Now let's consider a different perspective.

“‘Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when they present a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. For the generations to come, whenever a foreigner or anyone else living among you presents a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, they must do exactly as you do. The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.’” -Numbers 15:13-16

I've already stated in Who Belongs to the Covenant why I don't believe this or other, similar passages in the Torah, can be used to justify Gentile obligation to the entire body of commandments assigned to the Children of Israel at Sinai, but it's such passages as this from the Bible that many non-Jews in the Messianic movement use to justify the "One Law" or "One Torah" theology stating that both Jews and Gentiles who are Messianic have an identical obligation to the mitzvot.

I want to approach the issue of Gentile Torah obedience (compliance, subservience) from another direction. Having already established that no one can obey all of the 613 commandments today, I want to ask the Gentiles (and perhaps some of the Jews) in the Messianic movement a question. What do you do to obey your "obligation" to the Torah? Put another way, what does obeying the commandments actually mean in a practical, day-to-day sense?

There's another reason why we can't obey all of the 613 commandments today. They aren't all contained in the Five Books of Moses. Wait. Let me explain.

Each and every one of the 613 commandments or mitzvot is based on a specific verse or verses in the Five Books of Moses (I'm saying it this way because "Torah" can mean so much more than just Genesis through Deuteronomy). However, how they are interpreted and understood isn't always plain in the written Torah, and operationalizing the commandments may need a little help. That's where other meanings of the term "Torah" come in.

In a previous article on this blog called What Did Jesus Change: Ritual, I provided what I hope is a simple and straightforward way to understand the Jewish perspective on what "Torah" means. Based on a class my wife took at the local Chabad, the term "Torah" falls into three general categories: Written and Oral, Derived, and Legislated. Each of these explanations was previously published in my "ritual" blog post and I'm repeating them here.

The Written and Oral Torah

Torah can be considered both written and oral. Remember, Moses was on Sinai with God for 40 days and nights, so they must have talked about something. Actually, the oral law makes a certain amount of sense, once you realize that many of the commandments in the written Torah don't explain how to obey them (just how does one wear fringes on the four corners of a garment?). In that, the oral law modifies the written law so that it is "operationalized", describing the mechanics of how to perform the various commandments.

Derived Torah

After the written and oral Torah, there are the derived rulings, which is like how the U.S. Supreme Court interprets the U.S. Constitution. Originally, the Sanhedrin, in the days of Moses, was charged with interpreting the Torah for people, particularly in disputes, clarifying its meaning in difficult to understand situations. Also, over time, laws have to be understood in the light of new technological and social changes. For instance, laws previously passed in our country that addressed telegraph and telephone communications, some over a century old, have to be reinterpreted in light of the Internet.

Let's apply this to the Torah. When the laws dictating proper behavior on the Shabbat were first codified, automobiles and microwave ovens didn't exist. Once they were invented and put in popular use, the Shabbat laws had to be interpreted to render a judgment relative to whether or not these devices could be used lawfully on Shabbat. The directive to not drive on the Shabbat (at least in the Orthodox community) was derived from the original Shabbat commandments based on not igniting a flame on the Sabbath.

Legislated Torah

After this come legislated rulings. These can actually be local customs and can differ between, say the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. For instance, among the Ashkenazi, it is prohibited to eat or possess rice and beans during the Passover season as they are considered "leaven". You might wonder why, since these items are never used to leaven bread, but in centuries past, these food items were sometimes mixed with flour. It wasn't always easy to tell which ones were and which were not mixed with flour, so the Beit Din (Rabbinic Court) ruled that all rice and beans were to be considered leaven in order to resolve the conflict. Although the original problem has probably long since vanished, the ruling is still binding.

From an observant Jew's point of view, all of this is "Torah". That is, all of this is binding and Jews are obligated to live a lifestyle taking each and every one of these rulings into account. I'm not saying that every Jew on earth obeys every individual commandment and mitzvot recorded, and even "observant Jews" don't obey the mitzvot in the same way, but these are the rulings and teachings that make up a lived Jewish experience.

Do you do all of this? Have you studied the Babylonian Talmud with a learned Rabbi in a recognized and accredited Yeshiva? Do you buy your meats from a kosher butcher and eat (for example) glatt kosher?

No? You don't? Why not?

Oh. Because the rulings of the Rabbis were made up and/or only apply to Jews and they aren't binding on Gentiles who are grafted in to Israel through the blood of Yeshua (Jesus).

If that's so, how can you (Gentile Messianic) say that you are obligated to the Torah and keep all of the Torah mitzvot identically with your Jewish brothers and sisters?

Don't you hate tough questions?

OK, perspective time. I'm not necessarily saying that obeying all of the mitzvot in robot-like fashion will be a benefit to you in your walk of holiness. Certainly, if you don't "buy into" the Jewish definition of "Torah", then keeping glatt kosher, refusing to drive on the Shabbat and walking to shul instead, and having men and women sit separately during worship isn't going to do you any good and it won't make you feel any closer to God. You'll just be "legalistic".

And yet for a world of observant Jewish people, these and many more such behaviors define their worship of and devotion to God. If Judaism and Christianity hadn't experienced its schism in the early centuries of the common era, how do you know that Gentile believers wouldn't (assuming you are of a One Law/One Torah perspective) be observing all of the written, oral, derived, and legislated Torah, just as many observant Jews do today?

Yet aren't you (we) Gentile Messianics "picking and choosing" which commandments to obey and which to disregard based on your (our) own preferences? I've heard some non-Jewish Messianics criticize "the Church" for doing the exact same thing. Is this getting to be at all sobering for anyone out there?

All that said, there are a few things to consider. For instance, we don't really know for sure all of the little details about how non-Jews are to implement obedience to God. If we did, it wouldn't be such a hot topic in Messianic Judaism and I wouldn't be writing this blog post. We only "believe" we know based on this opinion or that opinion. It all depends on who you follow and who you choose to trust as a leader or teacher.

When I took a good hard look at what Yeshua taught in the Book of Matthew and applied it to the Matthew 28:18-20 mandate, I came up with these conclusions. I'm not saying they make up the entirety of Gentile obligation to God, but they're a good place to start.

This morning, Rabbi Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh said this on twitter:

For true peace on earth there must be one religion for all mankind. That religion is Judaism: 613 commandments for Jews and 7 for non-Jews.

Given that it's only about two weeks until Christmas ("Peace on earth, good will to all men"), it isn't very difficult to understand why Rabbi Ginsburgh posted this comment. I note it here because it's the first time I've heard anyone in Judaism say that there should only be one religion: Judaism, and that it should be applied to everyone on earth (with the vast majority of people obeying the Seven Noahide Laws).

I want to invoke a much older authority to add a bit of illumination.

“A gentile once came to convert to Judaism, on the condition that he could learn the whole Torah while standing on one foot. He approached Shammai, who rejected him, so he went to Hillel, who taught him: "’That which you dislike don't do to your fellow: That’s the basis of Torah. The rest is commentary; go study!" -Shabbos 31

This very famous passage from the Talmud tells a story of the great Jewish scholar and teacher Hillel, who lived in the late 1st century B.C.E. into the 1st decade of the Common Era, and whose lifetime overlapped that of Yeshua (Jesus). Here, Hillel seems to be conducting the fastest Gentile to Jewish conversion in the history of Judaism short of Ruth's statement to Naomi (Ruth 1:16). But what really happened?

I'm not prepared to analyze all of the nuances of this event, but notice what Hillel said was the core of the Jewish understanding of Torah: That which you dislike don't do to your fellow. This is a negative expression of the following:

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself...' -Matthew 22:39 (quoting Leviticus 19:18)

Hillel was a scrupulous teacher of halachah and ritual obedience and would hardly have disregarded the mitzvot of Sinai in favor of such a reductionist view of the Torah and yet, he's saying something here that we all need to understand. He's saying, in my opinion, if you cannot grasp the "obedience" of loving your neighbor and not doing any harm to him, will keeping the entire body of mitzvot including loving God mean anything to you?

If you expanded Hillel's statement just a bit, wouldn't it sound something like this?

There's much more I could say on this topic and I probably will in time, but I want you folks reading this article, especially those of you who are Gentiles in the Messianic movement, to stop and take a moment to question your assumptions. This entire blog was created for the purpose of questioning and testing assumptions. Unlike many pundits on the web and particularly in the Messianic blogosphere, I can't claim to be infallible, a perfect interpreter of the Bible, or some sort of "prophet". Like I wrote in the profile section of this blog, "I'm just one person searching for the light on the path and trying to understand my relationship with God".

Maybe some of this will help us all understand who we are in God.

Comments?