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Judaism I. Introduction A. Both the Least and the Greatest

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Judaism I. Introduction A. Both the Least and the Greatest Coexist: Judaism I. Introduction A. Both the least and the greatest religion 1. Least because only 14 million Jews in the world today 2. Greatest because it started a monotheistic revolution that has shaped the Western world and is the foundation for Christianity and Islam (these two religions now account for 50% of the global population). II. To be a Jew is to tell and retell stories and wrestle with them A. In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with God and receives a new name – Israel, which in Hebrew means “he who wrestles with God”. All contemporary Jews are Jacob/Israel’s descendents B. Chief among their stories is the Exodus 1. Remembered every spring around Jewish dinner tables in the Passover feast 2. When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God who liberated them with signs and wonders under the leadership of Moses 3. For Jews, the climax of this story is receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai (see Exodus 19:3‐6) III. The Torah is central to the Jewish faith A. What is the torah? 1. In Hebrew, torah means teaching or guidance 2. It refers specifically to the first 5 books of Moses (the first 5 books of our Old Testament) B. Commandments 1. In the Torah, Jews across the centuries have discerned 613 commandments 2. Some are ethical in nature; others are ritual and inform how Jews are to eat, dress, mourn, observe the Sabbath, etc. C. For Jews, then, the human task is "to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8) by following these 613 commandments and in so doing to repair the world. 1. Judaism is about doing more than believing 2. While Christians aim to “keep the faith”, Jews aim to keep the commandments IV. Arguing for the sake of God A. Rabbi Dennis from Kolami synagogue in Flower Mound says, “Catholics have dogmas, Protestants have doctrines, and Jews have arguments.” 1. The ancient Israelite religion (before 586 B.C.E.) centered on sacrifices and the Temple in Jerusalem 2. Since the Temple was destroyed first by the Babylonians (in 586 B.C.E.) and again by the Romans (in 70 C.E.), the focus shifted to praying and studying Torah and debating its meaning in the synogogue B. Arguments as Sacred Scripture 1. The Mishnah was written around 200 C.E. and preserves the oral tradition (ie. arguments) of rabbis between 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E. 2. The Talmud was written in the 300s and 400s and contains the debates on over 300 issues between two rabbis ‐ Hillel the Elder and Shammai 3. The Mishnah and Talmud are considered Torah as well. C. Hillel the Elder 1. Renowned in Judaism as the model human being 2. Lived in the century before Jesus 3. In a famous story, summed up the Torah by saying, “Do not unto others that which you would not have them do unto you. That is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary. Now go and study.” V. “Denominations” in Judaism in the U.S. A. Orthodox (21% of U.S. Jews) 1. Defenders of the Torah and tradition 2. Worship in Hebrew 3. Aim to observe all 613 commandments to a “t” B. Reform (39% of U.S. Jews) 1. Aim to assimilate into society and contemporary culture 2. Worship in language of culture 3. Focus less on ritual commandments and more on ethical commandments 4. Leaders in gender equality (ordain female rabbis and do bat mitzvahs for girls) C. Conservative (33% of U.S. Jews) 1. In the middle 2. Worship in Hebrew 3. Adapt how they follow commandments to contemporary culture D. Jewish Agnostics 1. One is born a Jew. Being Jewish is a dual identity: it means being a part of an ethnic group and it refers to a distinctive religious tradition 2. Many Jews are not “believers” but participate in synagogue because “that is where the other Jews are.” (Rabbi Dennis) VI. Christians and Jews – Two People Divided by Shared Texts A. Much in Common 1. We share the stories of the Old Testament 2. We share a vision of God as all‐powerful and all‐good, as just and merciful 3. But, we interpret our shared sacred texts differently and draw different conclusions B. Do Jews believe in the afterlife? 1. Judaism is unapologetically focused on this life 2. From the Mishnah, “Whoever reflects upon four things would have been better off had he not been born: what is above, what is below, what is before, and what is beyond." 3. Jews feel a deep sense of assurance about whatever may lie “beyond” based on their status as children of Abraham (“In the end, God will claim God’s own.” Rabbi Dennis) 4. In contrast, Jesus taught that what makes a person pleasing in God’s sight and a true child of Abraham is not one’s bloodlines but one’s faith or trust in God (see Genesis 15:16) 5. Jesus’ resurrection offers a promise about the afterlife C. Are Jews still waiting for a Messiah? In short, not really. 1. Jews do not believe that human beings are inherently “fallen” or broken; therefore, they do not yearn for a Savior or Messiah to heal their souls. 2. For Jews, the promise of a Messiah who will be a righteous king and “fix the world” is a minor theme, like icing on the cake 3. They look upon Jesus as a “failed Messiah” because the evidence shows that the world is still broken 4. Christians read the Old Testament (Adam and Eve’s disobedience, Cain’s betrayal against Abel, the idolatry of the golden calf, even David’s moral failures) as evidence that we human beings are broken, fundamentally flawed and incapable of keeping God’s commandments in our own strength. We need a Savior to redeem us and reconcile our relationship with God. 5. For Christians, the Messiah who comes to bring people back to God and ultimately to fix the world is central to our beliefs 6. We believe that Jesus came to fix the world through a subversive strategy: fix the world by first healing the human heart, one person at a time VII. On Anti‐Semitism A. It is a shame that Jews have suffered at the hands of Christians across the centuries B. Blaming Jews today for killing Jesus would be like blaming Italians today for the Romans’ role in Jesus death. It is not logical, helpful or in keeping with the loving Spirit of Christ. C. Today, we are called to respect Jews as our spiritual cousins and as people who have been critical to God’s unfolding plan of redemption for all the world .
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