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)

What, me worry about you?

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess which one?

• Quote #1: He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (The Gospel According to Mark, Ch. 8, v. 34-37 )
• Quote #2: "The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'" (Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.)
• Quote #3: "...but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good (emphasis added)." (Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801)
• Quote #4: "There is a belief now that individuals, especially young people, should essentially ... 'devote themselves' to something greater than themselves -- sacrifice their own wants, their own interests, to serve the common good, whatever they happen to believe it is at the time. To me, that's very un-American. I just don't think it's the role of the government to have me tutoring young kids if I don't want to or digging latrines if I don't want to or cleaning up trash at housing projects. People who serve in the military do so voluntarily, and I think they do so out of their own self-interest. They do so because they want to attack and kill a militant Islam [sic]. They do it very selfishly." (Jonathan Hoenig, Fox "News" Commentator and Managing Partner of Capitalistpig Asset Management LLC.)
  

So, did you guess which quote stands out like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl? If you guessed Quote #4, you are one smart reader! I presume that you've heard of Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King and Thomas Jefferson. But Jonathan Hoenig? If you're scratching your head trying to figure out who this guy is, you're likely not alone (unless you're in a room full of people who only watch Fox, in which case Unkosher Jesus will pray for you). The best I can figure is, if Ben Stiller ever procreated with Alfred E. Newman, and then they gave their love child a lobotomy, the result would basically be Jonathan Hoenig.

Separated at birth?

It is the stock in trade of the Fox Network to go beyond the pale on any number of issues and topics. Nothing is sacred at Fox except for crisp dollar bills and the opinions of any of the braying jackasses it employs to squawk at the teevee camera. I do feel, though, that in denigrating the notion of the common good, of a nation whose citizens work together for shared prosperity and security, Fox has literally out-Foxed itself in debasing an ideal that is as old as the Republic. What's more, the timing of this ill-advised slime attack against the idea of the common good comes when Americans are reeling from growing economic instability . Banks are failing, wages are stagnant, prices are rising, new foreclosures are reported every day. Do Hoenig and Fox think that the answer to this dire situation is "every man, woman and child for him or her self"? Talk about un-American. For the one network bent on promoting Intelligent Design over Evolution, you sure are keen on Social Darwinism. And this is the same network that would have us believe that it is the sole defender of the sanctity of Christian values and, by God, of the most holy of all holy holidays, Christmas? Puh-LEAZE.

Finally, a political movement that speaks Jonathan Hoenig's language...



Look, Hoenig and all of your fellow nihilists at Fox, I just have one question for you all: why do you hate America?

- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

MAD Magazine

The Impassive Bystander, by DeNeen L. Brown (The Washington Post, July 16, 2008)

Is the Common Good "Good"? (The American Prospect, June 18, 2006)

Jonah Goldberg: Why is Ex-Slave Barack Obama Tying to Reinstitute Slavery? (Wonkette.com, July 8, 2008)

Points of Light Institute

Peace Corps

AmeriCorps

City Year

Idealist.org

Jesus Christ- The Nice Jewish Boy Your Mother Didn't Tell You About

I've given it some thought- a lot of thought, actually- and I've concluded that Jesus Christ might be the least Christian of all of history’s famous Christians. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying that I think that Jesus was lax in practicing his faith. Just the opposite! My understanding of Jesus is that of someone who was keenly devoted to his faith, and who understood his faith to be a vehicle for reaching out to and helping other human beings. Thing is, though, his faith didn't happen to be Christianity. It was Judaism. And given that Jesus practiced the Judaism of his day, and not the Reform or Reconstructionist Judaism of the modern era, this places him squarely in the Orthodox camp- Old Shul, baby.

This is not the Jesus Christ that my mother, my father, or my Church told me about, coming up as I did in the Roman Catholic tradition. I was taught about the wonderful and good things Jesus did: Jesus healed the sick, Jesus fed the poor, and so on. As such, it never occurred to me to give any thought to the fact that my Catholic religion, a faith established upon the person of Jesus himself, was/is fundamentally different than Jesus' own (despite the fact that they share important liturgical and scriptural elements).

Maybe my life would have continued in this same direction, maybe I would never have spent any amount of time reflecting on Jesus' Jewishness. Yes, maybe so, except that in the course of my life I fell in love with and married a Jewish woman. We swept one another off our feet, we vowed our undying love for one another, and we delighted in establishing an interfaith oasis of peace, love and happiness despite our different faiths. Despite our Utopian leanings it was inevitable that Jesus wound up serving as a confounding rather than a unifying figure in our relationship, given the unhappy history between Judaism and Christianity. While there is clearly common theological and liturgical ground shared between Jews and Christians, it vanishes the moment the subject of Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, Eternal Son of God, etc., comes up.

Tricky stuff. Yet despite this, interfaith marriages are increasing in number each year, especially in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. In growing numbers, members of interfaith relationships and marriages continue to choose to engage in an experience fraught with pitfalls such as the “Jesus is the Messiah” / “No, he isn’t” conundrum. This conundrum is not always limited to religious couples. Even people who have not ever been religious per se can find themselves struggling to make sure that their “side” is given a fair hearing in the relationship.

I can’t speak for the Jewish half of my relationship, and maybe I can’t even speak for other Christians. What I do know is that whatever our individual reasons are I think it is pretty clear that those of us who belong to such relationships hold something important in common. We see something very good about coming together this way. We feel that it is better for us as members of different faith traditions and cultures to be close to one another, not divided and separate. We know this is true even as we struggle to figure out what this means or how it works in practical terms.

What causes some of the greatest difficulty for interfaith families is the fact that there is no such official religious institution that reflects this kind of construct, even for couples who have decided to raise their children in one faith tradition. For example, there are precious few rabbis in the metro Washington area who will participate in or otherwise recognize interfaith wedding ceremonies and marriages. Christian priests and ministers may be more amenable to co-officiating at interfaith weddings. However, I don’t know of any churches that have acknowledged the growing number congregants with Jewish spouses or that otherwise strive to address or help meet the religious needs of interfaith couples.

Does that mean that we toss our faith traditions aside and make up our own rules? I don’t know. What I do know is that it is better for people of different faiths to be closer to each other than for them to be separate and divided. I do know that while we all have our own thoughts and opinions about what “interfaith” means, it is good to share these thoughts with each other and to build a community through dialogue and exploration. Those of us with interfaith relationships and families are a part of something that is dynamic, exciting and growing. In the absence of official institutions to support and sanction the choices we are making we need to establish that support for each other. Any steps we take toward understanding and appreciating one another's beliefs and faith traditions are a necessary part of providing that very support and creating shared community.

I'd like to close by pointing out that, although Christians don’t say the Sh’ma at Mass or services, those of us who claim to be his followers (especially those of us with Jewish spouses) would do well to remember that this prayer, the most sacred prayer in Judaism, was very likely nearest and dearest to Jesus’ heart. To wit: “When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 34-40.)

The very commandment that Jesus cites as the most important is also found in the beginning of the Sh’ma:

"Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad."
(Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.)

"Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed."
(Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.)

"V'ahav'ta eit Adonai Elohekha b'khol l'vav'kha uv'khol naf'sh'kha uv'khol m'odekha."
(And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)

This is all to say that there is much good to be said about thinking beyond the established boundaries of our various faith traditions and exploring the unorthodox as a means to growing closer. For myself, I am excited to learn more about the Jewish Jesus. Not only does this provide me with a way to get to really know him better, to deepen my understanding of Jesus and his message, it provides a path for me to grow closer to my wife and her faith tradition. This will hopefully result in more common ground between us, more domestic tranquility. You know, the actual peace, love and happiness that Jesus preached about. Shalom.

-Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

Reclaiming Jesus- The Jewish Standard, 12.09.2005

From Jesus to Christ (Frontline, PBS.org)

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