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Future of Judaism
- Thread starter Jake1001
- Start date
He could broaden his assessment of Christianity. Replacement theology isn't hard coded in like he suggests and is probably an innovation though a commonly held one today. Christianity among people is always (so far) in flux, but he reinforces the version of Christianity which he describes by his last-word description and which is probably doomed. That's perhaps not his intent, but he is actually attempting to end Christianity by saying what he is, sort of pinning it into an unhealthy form. He's not responsible though for Replacement which is predominant in the USA among Christians here. I'm not suggesting he is the source.
Jesus' quoted opinion in the Christian 4 gospels was that Jews ought to be like salt and just dissolve into the world to make it salty or they were worthless. How that was intended to be taken, as an experimental idea or as a command is not perfectly simple for me to work out. We're talking about layers of centuries and lost information. The temptation for Jews I suppose is to become more like others in order to perhaps avoid some of the persecution which follows. They're kind of in a pickle if they want to make a difference, interacting but not becoming like other people. History shows that they get persecuted (including being killed) for this. This by no means new even in the time of Jesus. If Jesus is to be taken at his word, Jews should just rub elbows (with gentiles) as much as possible, not be afraid of being changed into non Jews and believe that they will change everyone else instead into perfectly mild and loving friendly cultures. Jesus is quoted to say they should become like salt in soup. Jesus does put forward a difficult message -- that much I gather, but it doesn't sound like replacement or that they are replaced. He is pushing for them to invest themselves in the world as if they are money and the world was a stock market. I don't have an opinion about this, because its before my time. I grasp some of the discussion, but I can't even be certain that Jews haven't being doing what Jesus suggests. I'm just not expert enough or broadly educated enough to tell you.
The Hanukkah bush is nothing new. I knew about them in the late 1950's/early 1960's.
Hi Brick, I am expert enough and broadly educated enough to tell you. However the article is a bit too long and boring for me to make it through. Your post is also a bit long but I can suffer through. Bottom line here, Hanukah bushes are coming for all !!
When you add salt to Matzoh ball soup does it change the volume ?
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Hi Sunny, your post is nice and short. Everyone knows about Hanakah bushes. Can you add substantively to this discussion?
I think there is more that unites Christians and those of the Jewish faith than separates us. The formation of CUFI.org is a great example of it.
In Christian's faith, as in the Jewish faith, there are many subsets. Some believe in replacement theology and some do not. Some believe that the Jewish nation and its people have a purpose from God and some do not. Some Christians believe in observing the Jewish Holydays and some do not.
Regardless, as Jesus said, "salvation is from the Jews", John 4:22 and as Paul said, Romans 3:2" First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God."
In my belief system, my very foundation is found in the TaNaKh.
In Christian's faith, as in the Jewish faith, there are many subsets. Some believe in replacement theology and some do not. Some believe that the Jewish nation and its people have a purpose from God and some do not. Some Christians believe in observing the Jewish Holydays and some do not.
Regardless, as Jesus said, "salvation is from the Jews", John 4:22 and as Paul said, Romans 3:2" First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God."
In my belief system, my very foundation is found in the TaNaKh.
Thank you, Ken, do you believe in Replacement theology ?
Thank you, Metis, you were a very dedicated Jew and I’m sure you are a dedicated Christian.
"Then a New Testament, a new Covenant took over. And so, the old was no longer valid."
This is absolutely wrong. Without Judaism there is no Christianity. While the person of Jesus divides Jews and Christians, it is also what unites them. The 'star' on our own Christmas tree has '6' points. Keep in mind that much of what is claimed to celebrate Christmas is secular and has little to do with the actual religious holy day. A few blocks from me there is a rotary with 5 roads leading in to it. During Hanukah there is placed a huge menorah. I doubt a 'bush' would command the same reverence by non Jews. When Hanukah is over and the menorah removed a Christmas tree is put up.
The nearby Yeshiva erects it and holds services each night in the rotary, talk about a traffic jam.
As for the problem of what to tell your kids we share that also. In separating the religious from the secular celebrations of Christmas the tradition of Advent helps in sorting it out.
This is absolutely wrong. Without Judaism there is no Christianity. While the person of Jesus divides Jews and Christians, it is also what unites them. The 'star' on our own Christmas tree has '6' points. Keep in mind that much of what is claimed to celebrate Christmas is secular and has little to do with the actual religious holy day. A few blocks from me there is a rotary with 5 roads leading in to it. During Hanukah there is placed a huge menorah. I doubt a 'bush' would command the same reverence by non Jews. When Hanukah is over and the menorah removed a Christmas tree is put up.
The nearby Yeshiva erects it and holds services each night in the rotary, talk about a traffic jam.
As for the problem of what to tell your kids we share that also. In separating the religious from the secular celebrations of Christmas the tradition of Advent helps in sorting it out.
Your earlier post was a simple question which was not reflective of your comment here. But specifically since you asked, the article contains a sentence I don't agree with:
The basis for the US was more deistic than Christian. The Founding Fathers, Deism, and Christianity is a good article on the question. For example:
Third, one should note the religious language a Founder used. Non-Christian Deists such as Paine refused to use Judeo-Christian terminology and described God with such expressions as “Providence,” “the Creator,” “the Ruler of Great Events,” and “Nature’s God.” Founders who fall into the category of Christian Deists used Deistic terms for God but sometimes added a Christian dimension—such as “Merciful Providence” or “Divine Goodness.” Yet these Founders did not move further into orthodoxy and employ the traditional language of Christian piety. Founders who remained unaffected by Deism or who (like John Adams) became conservative Unitarians used terms that clearly conveyed their orthodoxy (“Savior,” “Redeemer,” “Resurrected Christ”).
My parents were atheists but my relatives were aligned with Conservative Judaism. I did go to 'folk shul' and absorbed a sense that we as Jews had different traditions than Christians and that was just fine. But I refused a Bar Mitzvah as something I could not agree to participate in.
Along the way I enjoyed "Treasury of Jewish Folklore" and other Jewish stories as well as giving a dollar to plant a tree in Israel from time-to-time.
And in retrospect I was drawn to stories like Joseph della Reyna Storms Heaven, taken from a Yiddish groschen chapbook, the Sh'ma, Fiddler on the Roof and some stories of the tzaddikim historically.
Today I note that in the US religion as such is dying with more and more 'nones' and 'spiritual but not religious' people. So to me the future of Judaism is not really any different than the future of religion in general which to me is a dying away of the kind of religion that we've known with something else to take its place. Whether that's good or bad depends on one's own perspective.
My syncretic nature invites me to see statements like this from a Rabbi as no different than what I read in Eastern sources. If this is "assimilation", so be it.
"All creation is one person, one being, whose cells are connected to one another within a medium called consciousness." Rabbi Lawrence Kushner Log in to Facebook
Sorry I did not answer the original question you were asking. Let me get back onto the subject which interested you in the first place.
The problem of the Menorah and the cross is not such a great challenge if you rewrite the current stories. Rewrite that narrative which is pushed onto you in your surroundings, turning it upside down into a message which both rebukes and inspires. If your country keeps claiming it is the gift of the Nile and that pharoah giver of laws is descended from a god, make your narrative be about a human who overcomes gods and receives better laws. You both inspire people and punch the bad narrative in the nose, pointing out exactly what is corrupt about it. You put it all into your story and let your story fight for you.
As presented (or as I have heard) no.
My position is that the 144,000 evangelists in Revelation are indeed from the tribes mentioned. YHWH chose Israel as His special people and I don't think He has changed His mind