I
Am a Jew, part 1
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more
again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One
of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of
Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the
sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness.
Isaiah 10:20-22 (KJV)
YUYUY
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I
also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the
scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine
altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer
of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not
bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Romans 11:1-5 (KJV)
UYUYU
Defining the Term Jewish:
How do you
define someone as Jewish? What
parameters does one have to fulfill to be an authentic Jew? Is a person who is descended from Abraham truly
Jewish? Does someone who has his or her
lineage from one of the 12 Tribes of Israel Jewish? Maybe it is only somebody who keeps, kashrut or kosher? Is a Jew only someone who lives by the
orthodox oral traditions of Mishnah,
Midrash and Talmud? Perhaps a Jew can only be someone who fanatically
studies Torah? Is a person Jewish
if they do not believe in Rabbinical Judaism?
Or is someone only Jewish if they live in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel?
Maybe a Jew is someone who refuses to accept Yeshua as Messiah or Mohammed as a prophet?
Well… Do
you have an answer? Allow me to make the
question a little more difficult…
If an
acknowledged Jew (Rabbinical approved) decided to follow the practices and
meditations of Buddha or Tao, would they still be Jewish? How about if they believe in ghosts and
spirits? What are the criteria to
distinguish who is and who is not Jewish?
Can you tell me? It is not so
easy an answer, is it?
The fact is
that there are so many possible ways to say that someone is a Jew or is Jewish.
Yet, always one statement must stand
true: JEWISH DOES NOT EQUATE TO JUDAISM (Orthodox, Chasidic, Humanistic, Conservative,
Reform, Reconstructionists, etc.). Just
as an Irishman could never stop being what his lineage is so to a Jewish person
cannot be “de-Jew’d.”
Part of the
problem is that so many throughout the world define Jewish or Jew in a variety
of ways. Think about it, to be Jewish
can be defined as: a bloodline or lineage, a nationality, a culture, a
tradition, obviously a religion, and it can also mean to be a non-Christian or
a non-Muslim. So before we go any
further I think it essential that we define what is a Jew.
Unfortunately,
many Jews and Gentiles today believe the following is an applicable definition
for Jewish and Judaism,
Judaism may be defined as
the religious expression of the Jewish people based upon the Torah (Pentateuch)
believed given them by God and on the teachings of this Torah elaborated by
trained sages (the Talmud) for the sake of sanctifying human behavior and
guiding nearness to God” (Fishbane, 18).
Personally, I feel that definition
is much too narrow, not to mention incorrect.
Why should the defining aspect of Judaism be based upon the Talmud, which are the admitted oral
interpretations of ancient rabbi’s and not divine scripture? It has been fully documented in several
sources that the Talmud and its
forerunner, the Mishnah, were both
heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian exile. It was this predominance; along with both
Persian and Hellenistic influences that helped to change the way Judaism was to
be interpreted by the trained sages who created the first books of the Talmud.
Therefore, instead of keeping Judaism a religion based upon the Torah we
now had a new movement, based on oral Torah interpretations, instructing Jews
on how they should live their daily lives.
It was this exact form of legalism that Yeshua was denouncing in his sermons. Yeshua
stated time and again that legalism is not what God wants; he wants faith and
love in Him, not rituals and liturgy.
I believe
the same theory holds true in regards to many Jewish traditions including
Secularism. Being a secular Jew often
holds the greatest danger of misinterpreting the truths of Jewish traditions. I
always joke and say that as a kid my family would hold a Pesach (Passover) seder by throwing on a VHS of “The Ten
Commandments” with Charlton Heston as Moses.
Whatever Jewish denomination we may refer to the simple truth is that these
traditions have in many ways become more important then all other aspects of
the religion. This means that as
observant Jews we must perform traditional acts of faith in certain specific
ways because that is what has been passed down from father to son to grandson
to great-grandson to great great grandson.
The purpose behind performing these traditions is many times not even
for the purpose of reaching towards God’s nearness, but instead to keep Judaism
as a cohesive religion and to keep the newest generations from assimilating
into other religions and cultures. For
example, where in the Torah or the Talmud does it state that
Jewish men must wear a yarmulke (skullcap)? The answer is nowhere; yet can you find a
Rabbinical Jewish service without a man wearing one? Of course not, and that is because the
tradition of men wearing the yarmulke have superseded the laws we were
originally given by Moses. Now please
keep in mind that by stating this I am not denouncing any Jewish tradition; I
am only stating my belief that the traditions of Judaism has become the focal
point of the religion. I always sat hate
the sin and love the sinner.
So what is
my opinion on who is Jewish? I
believe a Jew to be someone who is a descendant of one of the 12 Tribes of
Israel and who lives by edicts of Biblical
Judaism. You do not have to
follow the Talmud’s legalistic laws or every Jewish tradition to be
Jewish; rather you must follow the Torah exclusively. For example, as stated earlier, I am against
wearing a yarmulke during prayer or
services, for nowhere in the Tanakh, or even in the Talmud does it say
to do so. On the other hand, I am for
wearing the tallit (prayer shawl)
during prayer and religious services.
Yet, keep in mind that when I say that Jews must follow the Torah, I do
not mean that they must follow the Law to the letter. Instead, I believe that to be a Jew you must
live with the Torah in your heart, with the Shema
always in the forefront your mind, Hear
O’ Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your might. That
ladies and gentlemen, is my definition of a Jew. It does not matter what else they do, think,
or believe, they are Jewish and nobody can take that away from them; not a
country, not a family, and most definitely not any member of another system of
belief.
Ends Part 1
