This is an approximate quote from Father Thomas Hopko (of blessed memory+): “At inter-religious conferences, at first you find Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and Protestants together ‘over here’ and Jews ‘over there’. But as we get down to the nitty-gritty of what religion and life are all about, you find Orthodox Christians and Jews together ‘over here’ and Roman Catholics and Protestants ‘over there. Of course”, he added, “we and the Jews have a slight disagreement about the identity of the Messiah!”
His point: Most Roman Catholics and Protestants see religion as something external to be conformed to and obeyed, whether it be the Bible or the Pope. However, most Jews and Orthodox Christians see religion as interior, planted within us, more a way of living than a doctrine or a law. (This despite the occasional lapses of both Jews and Christians into legalism.) Many modern western Christians, Protestants and now even some Roman Catholics, approach religion first as individuals, while most Jews and Orthodox Christians still approach it first as a community, something we do together – though I sometimes worry how long that will last in today’s individualistic Western culture.
These next two Posts are replays from December 2017, part of a series I wrote about “Orthodoxy and Other Faiths”. In this week’s I’ve added only a section at the end. Next week’s will be considerably reworked, inasmuch as much has happened since 2017.
As we talk about Judaism, first please distinguish four things: 1) Old Testament Judaism, which comprises our roots. Without them we cannot understand ourselves, who we are. 2) Jews as people. 3) New Testament teaching about the Jewish nation. 4) Today’s nation of Israel, about which many Orthodox have strong opinions, for good reason – especially the Palestinians at my church. So do I. We’ll talk about that next week. So please don’t misunderstand when I say many good things about Judaism and Jews, as I will.
Old Testament Judaism
Let’s begin at the beginning of Jewish history, which is our history. The Old Testament is part of our Christian Bible. I am no historian, so if I say something inaccurate, please correct me.
Jews are descendants of Abraham and Sarah. About 4000 years ago this wealthy Semite lived in what was even then the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldees in southern Iraq. (The ruins of Ur still exist, except for portions which were destroyed after both the Iraqi and US military used it for strategic purposes in the Second Iraq War. The Ziggurat survived.) There Abraham (then called Abram, “high father”) had visions of God – whoever that was, Abram didn’t yet know – calling him to take his wife Sarai, his family, servants, flocks and all he had and go to what is now the Holy Land. Sarai must have thought he was out of his mind. There in another series of visions God renamed him Abraham (“father of a multitude”) and made with him a covenant that if he and his descendants would be faithful to Him, “I will make you a great nation… in you all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed”. He renamed Sarai as “Sarah”. (Genesis 12) “I give you and your descendants all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession”. (Genesis 17) Thus the Jewish claim to the Holy Land today. Also, “You shall be father of many nations: kings shall come from you.” (Genesis 17) and again “I will bless you, and… I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (Genesis 22) God’s covenant with Abraham involved all peoples, not only the Jews.
These prophecies were written while the Jews were a tiny insignificant people – as on the world scene they always were, even at their prime during the days of King David. Yet amazingly it happened. Today nearly three billion people consider themselves heirs of Father Abraham and worship the God of the Jews. What was promised to Abraham came to pass.
Judaism is named after Judah, Abraham’s great-grandson, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, the patriarchs of this people who call themselves God’s “chosen people”. It has been said: “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” Why them out of all the nations on earth? Some Jewish scholars have said God called everyone; only Abraham answered. Perhaps.
I will not go through Old Testament history, except to say that out of this little tribe of Jews came unique world-changing ideas without which our modern world would not exist.
What the Jews gave to the World
In some of what follows now, I am stealing from Thomas Cahill’s The Gifts of the Jews – well worth your reading, with pictures! *
- I know some scholars criticize Cahill for being a “popularizer”, which he is. Like C.S. Lewis, he writes so ordinary people can understand. Yes, he does make a few mistakes. But so do the scholars. You’d never believe some of the things I’ve heard from scholars over the years.
From the Jews came:
(1) Monotheism: belief in one God, the Creator of all. They came to this slowly. At the time of Moses, the rule was “Thou shalt have no other gods but me”, as if there might be others. But long before the great Greek philosophers were beginning to suspect that there was one god, a unifying spirit within the universe, all the Jews had long known there is one God the Creator of the universe. Even if some of them didn’t like it.
(2) The concept of universal human brotherhood. If all people have one source, if all of us are children of Adam and Eve (no matter how one understands this story), all made in the image of the one Creator, then we are all one family, and we must look at all people as our brothers and sisters. This idea is certainly taking a long time to sink in. You’d think after a few thousand years all Jews and Christians and Muslims would take this for granted. Why don’t we?
(3) The belief that Creation, both spiritual and material, is good, not indifferent or evil. This is the theological/philosophical basis out of which eventually came the development of modern science and technology.
(4) The concept of progress. Ancient peoples believed history was cyclical. “What goes around comes around” again and again. (And of course there’s some truth in that. Lately we seem to be reliving the recent past. By the time 75 years or so have gone by, the younger generation doesn’t remember or learn from the lessons of their grandparents, and so here we go ‘round again – to the horror of us old timers who do remember.) But at least now we all believe that things can improve, that the future need not be just a rerun of the past. This idea of progress is now built into us – even if it’s often twisted out of shape. This also came from the Jews: the idea that God works in history, that we and the world are moving towards some destiny.
(5) The integration of religion and morality. The earlier Babylonian Code of Hammurabi hinted at this, but the Jews were the first to take it and run. In most ancient religions gods or spirits had no connection with how you lived. All you needed was to offer them the proper sacrifices – or in the case of the eccentric Greek gods just stay out of their way! Ethics was a separate matter for the good of tribe or society. In Judaism these two – worship and morality – were inextricably, continually united. God is good, and He demands goodness of his people. The Ten Commandments sum it up: “You shall worship [Me] alone”, and Here is how I command you to behave: “You shall be holy to me: for I the Lord am holy.” Leviticus 20:26
(6) The belief that God can work through sinners, even through our enemies. Most nations idealize their great ones. (Some of our leaders today even idealize themselves!) But notice how the Old Testament treats its heroes. It tells not only of Jewish heroes’ virtues but also of their sins, and says that God can work through sinners.
King David (who, for all his greatness and goodness, was also a liar, adulterer and murderer) is a prime example. God doesn’t let human sin stop him. * Then the Old Testament goes on, shockingly, to say that God can work even through our enemies. The prophets, one after another, proclaimed that the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile of the Jews was God’s just judgment on their unfaithfulness. There is nothing like this anywhere in the ancient world and very little in the modern. Just let an American politician today dare to suggest that God might be working through the opposing political party! let alone through Muslims. But the Old Testament is not about us good guys versus those bad guys. It’s about God working with, and often despite, human beings who each have within us both good and evil. *
- This is no excuse for electing scoundrels, but it least it offers some hope when we do.
(7) The Messiah – the hope found through the Old Testament for the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed King and Priest who would be sent from God to set all things straight. This desire is now built into much of mankind, often in a secular way. Those who have not accepted Our Lord Jesus Christ, as we know and love Him, still keep searching for a “messiah”: some person or system or philosophy to save the world or Make [whatever] Great Again. I’m not going to even try to list all the people and things which people in recent times have put total faith in. Invariably it leads to disappointment, sometimes disaster. Because there is only one Christ, and He has already come, triumphing over life nd death.
How did this little tribe of Jews know all these things that would reshape the world? The Jews said God had revealed it all to them. Do you have a better explanation?
What the Jews gave to Christianity
The Jews are our fathers and mothers in the faith, the foundation of Christianity. The one God of the Jews we now know as one God in three Persons. The moral life is now our way to become like Christ our God. We believe God is moving in history, leading us now not towards some property in the Middle East but toward his eternal Kingdom.
Most important, the Jews gave us Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ Himself – and His Mother, and all the Apostles.
But our Judaic foundations have never been forsaken. On the night after His resurrection our Lord Jesus taught His disciples,“’These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” Luke 24:24-25
Therefore on the day of Pentecost, after the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, how did the Apostle Peter begin the first Christian preaching? Acts 2 By quoting the Old Testament. Peter lifted up his voice and said: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,… This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh… And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
Peter then proclaimed the Resurrection by quoting Psalm 16: “For David says concerning him: ‘My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet [he spoke] concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses… For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ He continued, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2
What the Jews have contributed to America
Next week I want to concentrate on Judaism in the Old World, so this seems the best place to look briefly at Judaism and Jews here in the United States.
There have been Jews in American since before our Revolution. Did you know that in 1790 President George Washington sent a letter to the elders of a synagogue in Rhode Island: “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants.”
Many came here in the first part of the Twentieth Century, despite President Franklin Roosevelt’s never-fully-explained and tragic refusal to give them refuge just before World War II. Today there are about seven million Jews in America, and about four thousand synagogues and temples. However, only about 25% go to synagogue. The rest have only a “cultural Jewish identity”.
There is a long-debunked conspiracy theory about a Jewish cabal secretly trying to get control of the country. There is no such thing.
Such a belief may have roots in the amazing, out-sized influence American Jews have had on American culture. I attribute this to their intelligence and ingenuity which they developed over the centuries in Europe, in order to survive. Orthodox Russia’s treatment of the Jews was despicable.
Jewish financiers played a prominent role in the early Twentieth Century shaping modern American banking and economy, transitioning from the Gilded Age (dominated by the rich) *, to investment economy. Why that skill? Because in medieval Western Europe lending at interest was forbidden to Christians, so they got the Jews to do it for them.
- I’m writing on the day America attained its first trillionaire.
I love music. Americans of Jewish descent were instrumental * in establishing American theatre and music. (These will be old examples, because I’m old.) Irving Berlin (a Russian Jewish refugee): “God bless America”, “White Christmas” and many more. George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Barbra Steisand, Leonard Bernstein, one of our greatest conductors and composers (“West Side Story”). “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”. The smash classic hit about Russian Jewry: “Fiddler on the Roof”. Richard Rodgers (who was Jewish, but Oscar Hammerstein was not!) and “Oklahoma”, “The King and I”, “South Pacific“, “The Sound of Music”. To name just a few, and I’m sure it has continued. How much poorer America would have been without them!
- No pun originally intended!
Irving Berlin singing “God bless America” on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1968.
Julie Andrews (Twentieth Century Fox movie, 1965)
News Media: Too many to try to list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish-American_journalists
A few prominent American Jewish politicians of the day: Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden, Jon Ossoff, Josh Shapiro, J.B. Pritzger, Stephen Miller (assistant to Donald Trump) whose mother was an immigrant and who opposes immigration. And many more, far out of proportion to the Jewish population.
Why have the Jews done so well in America, despite occasional Anti-Semitism? Because they’re smart and inventive and have learned English and captured the American spirit quickly. *
- Besides, haven’t we noticed that almost all immigrants have worked hard and contributed quickly to our society? I just don’t understand why… but let’s not go there today.
Anti-Semitism
Let’s establish the principle again:
Anti-Semitism is always wrong. Indeed, bundling any people into a group and condemning them is wrong. Orthodox Christians, especially, should know this; we’ve suffered plenty of that over the centuries.
Jews of today did not kill Jesus. Even in the First Century only a few Jewish authorities were responsible for that.
Over the past decade there has been almost a 900 percent increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in the United States. Anti-Semitism has increased in many countries.
The question is why. We’ll talk about that next week.
Next Week: Judaism, Part Two – New Testament teaching about the Nation of Israel, The Holocaust, Israel and the Palestinians.
Week after Next: We haven’t gone traveling in a long while. Would you like to go to Greece again? (Am I giving you a choice?) I’ll tell again the story of How I first met Saint Nektarios.