Generation J by Lisa Schiffman. Harper San Francisco, (1999) US $18.00
jewish community issues
 It has become fashionable among the modern day Jewish historians to present that controversial Jew, Jesus, in a favorable light. Yet, depictions of Jesus in Jewish art and literature remain rare. A Satmar Orthodox Jewish man once told me, “Messianic Jews aren’t Jewish!” He went on to add, “Reformed, Conservative, Hassidic and most ‘Orthodox’ Jews aren’t really Jewish either. . . .” It was a communication breakdown. MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Photobucket, Skype, AIM, personal websites, e-mails—unavailable. All we could do was relate to . . . each other. As Jewish believers, we often encourage Gentile Christians to learn about the Jewish roots of their faith. Many benefit from the insights they gain from these connections. However, a growing segment of believers are demonstrating an excessive interest in their Jewish roots, which can be harmful to their spiritual health. My name is Steven Peter Wertheim. I was born August 3, 1951 in the Bronx, New York—but our family actually lived in the upper west side of Manhattan, where it seemed like everyone was either Jewish or Catholic. Regular fights broke out between us neighborhood kids. As things heated up, invariably one of them" would call "one of us" "Christ killer." I had no idea what "Christ killer" meant, but I knew it meant a fight was imminent. Question: I have heard some people accuse Jewish believers in Christ of neo-Galatianism" because you talk about celebrating the Jewish holidays. What, exactly, is neo-Galatianism, and how would you answer such a charge? And why do you Jewish believers continue to celebrate Jewish holidays anyhow? To tell you the truth, if everyone were good in God's sight, nobody would need Jesus and we wouldn't be spending our efforts making web sites like this one. People often describe the Holocaust as the climax of 2,000 years of Christian mistreatment of Jews. Some invoke the Shoah as the ultimate reason for Jews not to believe in Jesus. Persecution in the name of Jesus is the most emotionally charged strand of the net of objections. More than anything else, many people point to Christian anti-Semitism" as a reason to dismiss Jesus. When Jewish people find themselves questioning whether Jesus might be the Messiah, thoughts of the Crusades and the Holocaust quickly rush to mind, setting off a warning signal-Jews who believe join the same league as those who hate our people. When Jewish people allow that signal to block any further contemplation of Jesus, they base their decisions not upon who Jesus is, but rather upon who they do not want to be (namely, among those who persecute Jews). Received any harassing letters lately telling why you should reject faith in Jesus? The Jews for Jesus staff have been receiving unwanted and unwelcome mail. Some letters and literature are to annoy us, other communications are designed to dissuade us from our faith. Stuart Dauermann walked into what he thought was a kosher delicatessen and saw what he thought was a Jewish counterman putting together what he thought was a ham sandwich with mayonnaise on white bread. With astonishment he stared at the apparently Jewish proprietor and said, God was mourning over the dead, the persecuted, those whose minds were scrambled with the lust for power. Without Jews there is no Jewish God. |