Judaism.

To understand Judaism today, one must clearly distinguish between the God-inspired faith of the Old Testament and today’s Judaism which is called rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism — rabbinic because its source is the teachings of the rabbis, or Talmudic because its source is the Talmud. The Talmud is an 18-volume set of rabbinic writings, written from about A.D. 200 to 600, which is considered the authoritative commentary on the Old Testament Scriptures.

It is proper to call God’s people in the Old Testament “Israelites,” while reserving “Jews” for the period after the Old Testament, to indicate that Judaism, the faith of the Jews, differs significantly from the faith of the Old Testament.

At the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, the majority of the Jews were scattered throughout the Mediterranean world and the Middle East, with concentrations in Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. The interest of the Jews, however, was still on the temple and the sacrifices at Jerusalem. For them, that was the center of the universe, and every Jew tried to make as many pilgrimages there as possible. When the Romans destroyed the temple in A.D. 70, the primary focus of worship turned to the synagogue.

The Jewish people who are affiliated with a synagogue today (about half of them in the United States) belong to one of the three major branches of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform. These divisions are not rigid. Much of the teaching still depends on the local rabbi, and what is actually believed by the people varies by individual. Jewish people even feel free to identify with more than one of these branches or denominations.

None of the three branches of Judaism has a fixed set of doctrines or creeds beyond the Shema. At the same time, all Judaism is monotheistic. Also, it is oriented mostly to life in this world, with little attention given to life hereafter.

Orthodox Judaism

The Orthodox Jews refer to themselves as “Torah-true.” They are devoted to strict observance of all of the 613 commandments they count in the Torah. The Sabbath must be strictly observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. They cannot ride in cars on the Sabbath and can only walk short distances. The Sabbath is observed by complete abstention from work and business. The Orthodox keep “kosher,” which means that they can eat no pork or blood, and milk cannot be consumed at the same meal as beef. In Orthodox synagogues Hebrew is used, women are separated from the men, and the head is always covered.

Reform Judaism

While the Orthodox accept the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible, which Christians call the Old Testament, except that the order of the books is different) as the inspired, unerring revelation of God, the Reform (not Reformed) Jew believes in progressive revelation, which takes into account changes brought about by history. Worship is in a “temple” rather than a synagogue, sexes can mix, mostly English is used, and musical instruments are permitted. The dietary laws are not observed strictly. Hope for a personal Messiah is replaced with the hope for a messianic time of peace for humanity. The Reform movement began in Germany as an attempt to modernize the burdensome traditions of Orthodox Judaism. The center of Reform Judaism today is in the United States.

Conservative Judaism

Between the strict Orthodox and the liberal Reform is Conservative Judaism, which attempts to compromise between the two, keeping some of the traditions but still trying to be enlightened about modern civilization. It keeps some of the dietary laws (with modifications) and uses both Hebrew and English in worship. The Conservative Jew sees Jewish culture as the unifying bond for Jews. The largest number of affiliated Jews belongs to this group.

Limburg, in Judaism: An Introduction for Christians, writes that 53 percent of American Jews have no formal membership in a synagogue or temple, but many of them express their relationship to the Jewish people through participation in Jewish organizations. He lists these percentages of those 47 percent who are affiliated: Orthodox, 20%; Reform, 30%; and Conservative, 50%

Other Movements within Judaism

Other smaller movements and sects within the scope of Judaism include Hasidic Judaism, a pietistic movement somewhat akin to the pietistic movement within Lutheranism in the 18th century, or perhaps more like the development of the Amish people. It was a reaction against the unemotional Judaism of Eastern Europe.

Reconstructionism, a radical movement within Judaism, seeks to reconstruct all aspects of Jewish society. Its founder, Mordecai Kaplan (Judaism as Civilization, 1934), was excommunicated by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. This movement, while emphasizing the need for a Jewish community, views that community as a “civilization” rather than a religious community, although the community does have religion as its core.

Among the Jewish people of our day, many espouse no formal religion but deal with the ethical questions of life with a moralistic approach. They still consider themselves Jewish but see their Jewishness not so much as a religion but as a culture, a community of people with a long and rich heritage. These Jews are sometimes called “cultural Jews,” “secular Jews,” and some might even be considered agnostics or atheists.

Another group within the realm of Judaism consists of those who identify themselves as Messianic Jews. These Jews believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. Culturally and ethnically they are Jews, but they believe in Christ as do Christians. Some prefer the terms “Hebrew Christians,” “Jewish Christians,” or simply “believers.” Most Jews who do not believe in Jesus claim the term is deceptive since it does not identify a Messianic Jew as a believer in Jesus Christ.

The traditional Jewish community today maintains vehemently that when a Jew by birth accepts Jesus as Messiah (that is, when one becomes a Christian), he or she is no longer a Jew. One cannot be a Christian and a Jew at the same time, they say; these are mutually exclusive categories. In December, 1989, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah cannot be considered Jews under Israel’s Law of Return (which guarantees citizenship to every Jew who desires it). The reason, given by Justice Menachem Elon, is that Messianic Jews “do not belong to the Jewish nation; those who believe in Jesus are in fact Christian.” Rabbi A. James Rudin of the American Jewish Committee stated that he hoped this ruling would end the “deceiving charade” of Jews who claim to be Jews but are Christians (St. Louis Post Dispatch, January 6, 1989).

Of course, those Jews who have become Christians strongly object and insist that they are still Jewish even though they believe in Jesus. To emphasize this fact, some use the terms “Messianic Synagogue” (calling their spiritual leader “rabbi”), “Completed Jew,” and “Fulfilled Jew.”

It seems today (although there are no hard statistics to demonstrate it) that more and more Jews who become Christians want to continue to be identified with their Jewish heritage. To varying degrees, they continue to practice some of their Jewish customs and traditions — like the Seder meal of the Passover, the use of Hebrew in some worship and prayers, and some styles of worship learned in the synagogue. Some Jewish believers may keep kosher and wear yarmulkes and prayer shawls. Whatever view we hold in this area, as long as individual practices (and not doctrine) remain a matter of Christian freedom, we do well to respect the culture and heritage of the Jewish people and to allow Jewish believers in Christ to express their faith in their own way.

Messianic Judaism has grown in recent years. There are Messianic congregations in all major cities of the country which have large Jewish populations. There are several national and world organizations which bring them together in an “association” style.

The Messiah.

The Old Testament faith was strongly messianic. The prophets promised a “greater prophet” than Moses, a king who would restore the throne of David, a suffering servant who would redeem his people. Every Jewish mother at the time of Jesus hoped that her son would be the Messiah. The reason that many Jews in Jesus’ day did not welcome him as the Messiah is because they had a different concept of what the Messiah would be like and what he would do: they expected a political king who would free them from Gentile rule and establish the glory of their own kingdom. They generally ignored prophecies (such as Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22) that the Messiah would suffer and die for the sins of the people.

But Jesus came, and the Jews had to deal with him. After Pentecost, as the church grew and the apostles preached that the crucified and risen Jesus was truly the Messiah who fulfilled all of the prophecies, the officials had to take a stand. There were strong differences of opinion. The Sanhedrin issued the order “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). The conflict which then unfolded between the church and the synagogue helped to shape the development of Judaism. One thing remained a strong element in Judaism: it was anti-Jesus. Judaism clearly taught that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah.

Judaism, however, did remain messianic in the sense that most Jewish people continue to look forward to the coming of the Messiah and/or a messianic age of peace and good will. As one Jewish lawyer expressed at a Messianic Forum luncheon in St. Louis, “When I see the lamb and the lion lie down together, as Isaiah promised, I will believe the Messiah has come.”