Rabbi Jesus

I was sitting in a discussion circle at the DC Jewish Community Center over a year ago. The event was a reunion of sorts. Couples who had participated in the JCC's interfaith couples course were invited to come back and share their experiences, to check in and discuss how things were working. The discussion was going pretty well, but I detected a pause when I made a comment about how I hoped that continued interfaith dialogue between Christians and Jews could make it possible to openly discuss Jesus as a person and a teacher without consternation or discomfort on anyone's part, Christian or Jew.

I should mention that the JCC does not support interfaith arrangements like the one I have with my wife, and prefer that if someone who is Jewish marries a non-Jewish partner, that the household still be solely Jewish with regard to religious observance. In that sense, perhaps it was wildly optimistic of me to make that comment it that particular setting and expect that the others would be enthusiastic about discussing it further.

Be that as it may, it was still a disappointing moment for me. As I've written previously, it is a source of sadness and frustration for me that Jesus serves as a confounding rather than a unifying figure for Jews and Christians. And so I was excited to read a post published by fellow blogger Lubab No More, and guest-written by Candy Man, called A Rabbi Named Jesus. It's a great post with some important insights as to the identity and message of Jesus from an Orthodox Jewish perspective. For example, Candy Man cites Jesus' inclination to sit at table with anyone with whose company he chose to share. This inevitably meant breaking bread with tax collectors, prostitutes, and the like, as a means to bringing his ministry directly to those most in need of it, a habit that ensured that Jesus would inevitably, regularly violate Torah codes regulating ritual purity. Candy Man's reference to Jesus' eating habits reminded me of the illustration seen above. It's simply entitled The Lord's Supper, and was sketched for The Catholic Worker newspaper by Fritz Eichenberger during the mid-20th Century. A priest I knew in college used to affectionately refer to this illustration as The Last Supper With Bums. I say affectionately because he was not making a joke about the illustration or being derisive towards the homeless. He was making the same basic point as Candy Man: Jesus was a man who saw as more important the need to be present to others and treat them humanely and compassionately than the need to keep ritually clean by avoiding sinners.

Who was Jesus? I think that there is enough historic evidence to show that he was a rabbi, for starters. I've also heard him described as a religious genius. Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong describes Jesus as "a person of history in whom and through whom Jewish people believed that they had experienced the presence of the holy God." Candy Man commented that Jesus saw himself as a teacher within mainstream Judaism who did not seek to establish a new religion, and sought to fulfill the Torah commandments. I would simply add that while I agree with this, I also agree with Bishop Spong's assessment of Jesus' ministry as one of spiritual liberation for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. As Spong writes in his most recent book, Jesus For the Non-Religious, "When I look at this Jesus, I no longer see God in human form. I rather look at Jesus and see a humanity open to all that God is- open to life, open to love and open to being. So the first barrier, which limits humanity with tribal identity, is broken open and in the process Jesus breaks out of the prison of tribal religion. It is the profoundly human Jesus that enables us to step beyond the tribal limits that so deeply impede our humanity."

This is all to say that I am grateful to Candy Man for posting his thoughts about Jesus. I look forward to promoting a dialogue (diablog?) that helps transform Jesus from a dividing figure between Christians and Jews to one who can unite us. So, Candy Man, let's spread peace via the Internet, as you say, and get this dialogue started.

I'll end tonight's post with the following reflection on Jesus that was written by Abram Leon Sachar, a Jewish-American scholar, the first president of Brandeis University, and the author of A History of the Jews, in which the following passage was published:

"It was a tragedy for Jesus that historic circumstances conspired to make some of the leaders of his people intolerant of his ethical teachings. A revival of the militant prophetic liberalism was sorely needed to revitalize the Judaism of his day. Perhaps if Messianic claims had not been intertwined with his teachings, his own and later generations would have taken him to heart and given him a deserved place among the noblest of the Jewish prophets.

"But a greater tragedy was his acceptance by the Greek Fathers who took his name and made it the sanction for a new theology. The Roman world was indeed made better for the conquering faith which it adopted, but Jesus was not honored by the adulteration of his teachings. Through the thick cloud of religious incense, offered by the piety of countless generations, it is difficult to recognize the magnetic teacher of Galilee, who preached a gospel of love in an era filled with hate, whose simple humanity was a solace to those who lived in darkness."

Jesus Christ Superstar



- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

Reclaiming Jesus- The Jewish Standard, 12.09.2005

From Jesus to Christ: He was born, lived, and died as a Jew (Frontline, PBS.org)

Bishop John Shelby Spong Preacher and Teacher Bio Page (BeliefNet.com)

Jewish Voices About Jesus (Jewish-Christian Relations.net)

The Catholic Worker

Jesus Was a Jewish Liberal magnet (AllPosters.com)

What Wouldn't Jesus Do? t-shirt (BustedTees.com)