Was Jesus totally Jewish, that Jewishness just beneath the
surface of the New Testament
simply waiting to be recognized for what it is ? Not
really.
For sure, there is a large element of Jewish faith and
tradition in the Gospels and Epistles.
But predominant to the exclusion of everything else ? Not
a chance. There also is :
( 1 ) Christian originality, and
( 2 ) Christian "borrowing" from the traditions of the
Greco-Roman-Mid Eastern world
in which Jesus and the first Christians lived. And
"borrowing" really is the wrong word,
you don't borrow the air you breathe and you don't borrow
the culture you live in
since it is intrinsic to who you are.
While most people --to understate the case-- are not
historians, and while pastors
and other believers have no interest in giving historical
credit where credit is due
and prefer, by instinct we might say, to interpret the NT
in terms of the Christian
civilization that arose in the post-Constantinian world,
the facts are otherwise. For the
NT is almost a compendium of ancient religion and the
traditions of now lost faiths
whose members are no longer alive to point this out.
But I am hardly the only scholar to make it clear that the
Gospel story and the witness
of the Apostle Paul include major elements which derive
from Orphism, from
Isis religion, from classical Greek precedent, from
Zoroastrianism, and
from Assyrian faith. About which, given that Jesus spoke
Aramaic,
and the language of the Assyrians was Aramaic, it should
come
as no surprise that a good number of Jesus' sayings have
direct
parallels in Aqahat, one of the few lengthy gospel-like
religious
texts to survive to today.
All of this said, the Jewishness of Jesus cannot be denied
for one minute.
Dom Crossan, anything but an Evangelical ( he is a very
independent-minded
Catholic who would have no difficulty as a faculty member
of any secular
elite university ), has made this abundantly clear in his
massive studies of
the life of Christ, based on years of scrupulous
scholarship. But was Christ's
Jewishness that of "official" Judaism of his time or more
akin to small town
and rural "folk Judaism" ? Clearly the latter. Which
throws a monkey wrench
into theories like the book under review in the following
article.
The way "confirmation bias" works in scholarship is that a
rabbi who studies
the life of Christ somehow writes a book in which Jesus
comes across as
a first century AD rabbi. If a Baptist preacher was to do
likewise,
behold, Jesus was actually a proto-Baptist. If a Jesuit was
to write
his own book, Jesus comes across as a sincere Catholic. If
a woman
influenced by women's studies was to do so, why, of course,
Jesus was pro-feminist and favored all the ideas of NOW.
And we have seen Jesus, written about by African-Americans
portrayed as probably African, and so forth.
Maybe we can do better than that.
As for the reviewer's take on anti-Semitism in
Christian history, first,
his point is generally valid. Christian tradition has been
largely anti-Semitic
for most of its history. And, yes, the NT is highly
critical of Judaism
and any number of Jews of the time. However, to leave
matters at that
and go on to generalize from there would be a travesty.
Jesus and either all or nearly all of the Disciples were,
after all, Jews.
So was Paul. To claim that they were anti-Semitic as the
word is
almost always used these days, would be logically absurd.
Were they
prejudiced against themselves ? How plausible is that ?
Their critique of Jewish religion and its practices was one
thing and
criticisms of the Judaeans who ran the religious
establishment in Jerusalem
was another. But events in earliest Christian history is
still another
and, in the context of the Roman Empire, there were strong
imperatives
for the nascent Christian community.
There was the huge uprising of 66 - 70 AD, the so-called
"Jewish war."
Christians needed to distance themselves from any such
thing and
from the Jewish leadership that fought the war, especially
since
it was so costly in lives and wealth to the Romans. Then
came the
Bar Kochba revolt of the 120s AD, which was almost as bad,
and which motivated many Romans to become stridently
anti-Jewish. Identification of Christian faith with Judaism
in such an environment in which Jews were regarded
as de facto traitors, was absolutely intolerable.
The most
expeditious way to make it clear that Christianity was a
thing apart was to adopt major parts of the Roman critique.
Which is what happened and which is what gave later eras
of Christians a very different set of interpretations of
the NT
than was the case prior to Bar Kochba.
Knowledge of relevant history is not a luxury.
It is absolutely essential.
Billy
=======================================
Christian Post
Koshering Jesus a Bit Too Much: A Jewish Review of Shmuley
Boteach's 'Kosher Jesus'
I was thrilled when I read that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach had
taken on the very controversial subject of the Jews adopting
Jesus as a "member of the tribe" in his new book, Kosher
Jesus. I was less exuberant when I went to Barnes
& Noble to purchase it, and found that it was catalogued
on the Christianity shelf and not under Judaism, even though
it was titled Kosher Jesus, with the word kosher
first, and written by a rabbi.
Unfortunately, it continued downhill, with a few uphill
dashes from there, although on balance I am pleased Boteach
wrote this book. The rabbi tried hard to make the case that
Jesus was not only a Jew, and a practicing Jew, but that
everything about him arose from his Jewishness and Jewish
heritage and learning, including his famous creeds and
deeds. Boteach turned Jesus into his version of an Orthodox
Jew of that time, who only came to Jerusalem during his
final days to fight the Romans, and for which he was put to
death by the Romans.
Boteach's essential thesis is that the Christians got it
wrong. Nothing special was written about Jesus by other
rabbis and scholars of his time, everything he said and did,
and how it was recorded in the New Testament pre-Paul was
taken from the Torah, the Talmud and the great Jewish
thinkers. Even Jesus' so-called miracles were common at the
time, and really no big deal. Yes, Jesus had a following,
and called himself Messiah, but so did others. No credit is
given to the unique life he led, and the way it was all
woven together to lead people to a new understanding of
their lives.
Boteach sees the Jesus story as a Jewish thing, and
actually not such a big deal, so in keeping with creating
better Christian-Jewish relations today which have improved,
his message to the Jewish community is to get over it. The
divinity of Jesus, which is anathema to the Jewish
community, as well as the anti-Semitic overtones in the New
Testament, he ascribes to Paul's retelling of the story.
Boteach does that well.
Aside from what I imagine will be significant unhappiness
in the Christian community about his historical revisionism
from their perspective though, Boteach missed what I
consider was an important opportunity to make a significant
contribution to our times.
I also have spent extensive time, as Boteach clearly did
the in-depth nature of his research is apparent, over the
past 10-20 years reading and learning about Jesus and his
times, and his importance to Jewish understanding of
Christian thinking and for me a greater understanding of our
Jewish people and Israel in historical context.
Why did I start this journey of learning? I wanted to
understand what it means for the Jewish people to be in
Israel today, and how that relates to our earlier
experiences in Israel each time we were conquered and lost
our homeland. I wanted to learn from history, so we don't
make the same mistakes and lose our land again.
I traveled back 2,000 years to the last time we had Israel,
and there was Jesus. I found that it was a most significant
time even as I traveled further back into history another
thousand years. During that time, the Jewish people
intermittently controlled Israel, built not one, but two
Temples which were both destroyed, and lived under the
domination of the Babylonians, then the Greeks and Romans in
the few hundred years before the Common Era. All of this
history led up to a more secular ruling class of the Jews,
who cozied up to their Greek and Roman authorities.
By the time Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, the high priest was
appointed by the Romans, and the Temple had lost much of its
original Jewish character. It appears that this is the
Jerusalem that Jesus arrived in to change. And it should not
be dismissed, as Boteach does, for we are facing some of the
same conflicts today, and we must learn from them, and
listen to people who are standing up for our people, Jews
and Christians alike. How many of our current Jewish
organizational leaders are in office simply because they
were close to the current power structure, and how many have
turned into apologists at a time when we need strength?
Boteach sees Jesus' concern solely about the Roman
influence, and he does not touch on the subject of Jesus, a
Jew, calling on other Jews to change their ways. Dangerous
to Roman authorities? You betcha! Dangerous to the Jewish
leaders who had sold out their people and religion for money
and power? Yes, certainly. Sufficient to get the Jewish high
priests and Romans to team up against him? That's certainly
a possibility, and his sentencing and death could not have
happened but for the Roman authorities. Truth is, this last
one — that Jewish high priests and Roman leaders were
teaming up against him — gets us in trouble, so we Jews and
Christians should simply take a pass on it. I would assume
that if there were some Jewish leaders against Jesus, there
were also others in his camp. As a Jewish community, we
cannot accept the blame that the Jews killed Jesus.
We can use Jesus' example as a warning today, a wake-up
call for our own people. And that is the direction I would
have actually expected Boteach to have gone and he still can
in his commentary and talks. Back in the 1920s, Rabbi
Stephen Wise spoke out for the Jewishness of Jesus, and
others have studied Jesus as a Jew, some even as a Jewish
prophet I am not speaking about Jews for Jesus or
conversion. The difference between Judaism and Christianity
— and no Jew of note takes us there, nor should nor can--is
that the Christian community views Jesus as the Messiah, the
son of God, or God himself. That is not a Jewish
interpretation of Jesus' life, nor will it ever be.
Christians will just have to accept that Jews will always
remain certain that the Christians got it wrong this is a
point on which to agree to disagree, although a distinctly
central point.
This perspective does not belittle Jesus and his life. It
raises it. Jews can admire the life he led, and the way he
led it. They can learn from him, and what he did. Boteach is
right on target here; the learning must come from the
pre-Paul Jesus, the real Jesus, yes, perhaps the Jewish
Jesus. In the Jefferson Bible, President Thomas Jefferson
tried to strip Jesus of his religious overtones; Boteach
tries to fit him neatly into Orthodoxy.
I am convinced that we should kosher Jesus; I am just not
convinced that Jesus was kosher. I do think Jesus understood
that what comes out of one's mouth is more important than
what goes into it "listen and understand, what goes into
someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of
the mouth, that is what defiles them". Boteach's
interpretation insists that that is not something Jesus said
or meant because Boteach wants to portray him as completely
kosher. I would say that you don't have to be Orthodox to be
a good Jew, although I have the utmost respect for Orthodox
Jews and their traditional practices. But I don't have the
sense that Jesus was so traditional.
Where I do agree with Boteach, and this is important, is
that perhaps Paul, and then Augustine, created a new Jesus
in a new story, that fomented an antipathy towards the
Jewish people and the Jewish rabbinic tradition in its
formative stage as Christianity was also being launched.
This was a time the Jewish people and religious practice
were being transformed by the destruction of the Temple and
the forced exile of the Jews from Israel. An extraordinary
moment for our people with extraordinary and long-lasting
consequences.
Yes, Rabbi Boteach creates an important conversation for
Jews about Jesus as a Jew, our acceptance of him, and
raising his status in our community to a man worthy of our
open respect. And for that I applaud the rabbi. I just think
that there is too much stretching to make Jesus a
traditional Jew, which I don't think he was.
In modern parlance, as Robert F. Kennedy showed in his
words and deeds, it may be said that Jesus saw wrongs, and
tried to right them — of the Jewish people and humanity and,
yes, the Roman rule of Israel. We can and should celebrate
him, and respect him as a Jew and as a human.
There are those in our Jewish community who have seen this
book as an outrage and even called for it to be banned.
Others have ostracized Boteach for writing this book. Some
have expressed their concern that at a time when we are
losing too many Jews who have chosen to abandon our
traditions, this book glorifies Jesus and makes him and
Christianity more attractive. We need not fear. We, as Jews,
are stronger than that, and our religion, story and heritage
are extraordinary. We need not avoid confronting this
historic person, a Jew, who has had such a monumental impact
on the course of humanity.
As Jews, we should recognize that the Christian world found
a new spirit, a new spirituality, in the life and message of
Jesus, whether altered by Paul or not, and just accept that.
But the message is not the same for us, and the Christians
need to accept that. We don't need to lecture the Christians
on how they are wrong. And I would hope that, as Rabbi
Boteach opens the door a bit more, the Christian world
continues its education about the Jewishness of Jesus.
As Israel once again faces dangerous threats from outside
forces in our times, we need to know our history. As many in
the Christian community stand with us today in support of
Israel, and as the Jewish community now stands with the
Christian community as it faces its own difficulties in many
countries, we can bring more understanding, and closeness,
into today's Judeo-Christian communities by continuing the
discussion that Rabbi Boteach has started.
This article originally appeared in the Long Island Jewish
World group of newspapers, including the Manhattan Jewish
Sentinel.
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