So, the reason why I--a Catholic--am curious about this question is because the Christian way of viewing the nature of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism is as that our two religions are intertwined; and I had some questions about wanting to hear more of the Jewish perspective on this because I'd heard some differing opinions from some Orthodox Jewish rabbis. From the Catholic perspective, we see Christianity as having come from Judaism--as in, without Judaism, there would be no Christianity. There is no doubt, from our perspective, that Jesus and his followers were Jewish and lived and died as Jews.

This perspective on the nature of the relationship between the two was interrupted somewhat when I read several opinions from certain Jewish scholars who insisted that Jesus and his followers were no longer Jews--that is, the moment they took on the belief in Jesus as the Messiah, they ceased to be Jewish. Now, I'm not here to get into the can of worms that is "Messianic Judaism" because that's a huge issue in itself; but I have to bring it up because they were using the rejection of Messianic Judaism as a way to look back and retroactively declare the followers of Jesus--and Jesus himself--apostates from Judaism.

I had always thought that Jesus and his followers would not have recognised themselves as Christians but rather as Jews. The Gospels are unreliable because since the time they were originally written, it is clear that they underwent some influence by anti-semitic, gentile hands--those portions of the Gospels which remain relatively uncorrupted, however, make it clear that Jesus taught his followers to obey the Pharisees--who eventually evolved into rabbinical Judaism. In spite of this, I was in some personal conversations on this topic with an Orthodox Jewish person who told me that in spite of the fact that Jesus and his followers saw themselves as Jewish, their belief in Jesus as the Messiah cancelled that out and made them race traitors, after a fashion.

In light of that, the Christian use of the Tanakh was seen as "appropriation." I was actually kinda surprised to hear this, because the Christian perspective is that Judaism is a tree, Christianity is a branch off the tree and we Gentiles are grafted onto that branch. The metaphor of being "adopted" is huge in the writings of Paul. From the Chrisitan perspective, this may be all fine and dandy, but it's not so easy from the perspective of Jews standing outside of Christianity looking in. For one thing, the Christian belief in the Trinity (which, I will insist till my dying breath that we believe in ONE G-d) has been said by some Jewish scholars to be indicative of the fact that on top of not really being related Judaism at all, we Christians don't even worship the same G-d. The Shema prayer is part of Christianity, though--in the Gospels, Jesus prays it. In Catholicism, our prayers always close with the insistence on One G-d--a belief in HaShem.

So now I wanted to get some perspectives on this. A few concepts have been thrown out to think about are: Appropriation, apostasy, race treachery, and idolatry. Is there contiguation between Christianity and Judaism or is there a hard break?

So, that's part of the discussion I wanted to hear because, again, the Christian perspective--at least from my group of Christians--had been that we were brothers or adopted brothers; but some stuff I was reading from some Jewish scholars suggested that we're not brothers--we're not even adopted brothers: we're just a group of dudes that started saying that we were brothers without any real reason to say that. So I wanted to get even more Jewish perspectives on the nature of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.

The 23rd Annual Shabbat Across America (including Canada) will be taking place on March 1st.  My congregation is participating, and I'll be going.  Is there anyone else here who will be participating, either with your congregation or at home?

Hi, I'm a Catholic. I had some questions about Judaism so I came looking for a forum. If it's an issue that I'm here or I make you feel uncomfortable, I understand and I can leave. I'm just here because I had some questions about Judaism and was looking to learn more.

The last thing I want to do is overstay any welcome, so do let me know.

It's nice to meet you all, and I hope that you all have a wonderful day!

   

I'm trying to find out what this symbol means in Hebrew. I have heard many, many variations and continue to wonder what it stands for. t I've heard it means "withstand". I'm hoping to hear what it stands for and hope some might chime in.

How alarmed do you think European Jews should be about the rise of Anti-semitism ?
Is Israel safe to move to since there is risk of war ?

what should a European jew do ?

There's an old tradition that we are supposed to recite a special verse from the Bible that is personal to each of us, in that it begins with the first letter of our name, and ends with the last letter of our name.  Some siddurim give a list of suggested verses that correspond to various names, but I found this handy list online:
 
https://web.archive.org/web/201408032151...es/138.htm
 
I thought it might be interesting if we looked up whatever verse corresponded to our screen names here, and posted it.  I'll start with mine. Channalee begins with a ח and ends with a י (beginning and ending letters appear in the right-hand column of the text I linked above):
 
Mine is Psalm 89:2
 
The kindnesses of the Lord I shall sing forever; to generation after generation I shall make known Your faithfulness, with my mouth.        
 
What's yours?

Hello all,

I own a very old pot which has some Hebrew writing on it. I was hoping that that somebody could maybe tell me what it reads and what it was used for. I guess it is very old. Thought this is the best place to find more info about it and hope you guys do not mind.

This video was made by the American Friends of the Hebrew University and I thought it was so funny that I just had to share it.
 

I've seen interviews with Keinan elsewhere but they are a bit different than the one here with Dave Rubin. They discuss religion, culture, Israel, atheist Jews, race, and antisemitism. They do get into politics a bit but not a lot. I haven't read Tal's book yet but the interview was interesting, I think.

So at services this morning someone asked why a perfect G-d would create so much imperfection (Adam and Eve, the generations leading up to the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah). The immediate, almost reflexive response of the Rabbi was: "Because G-d is not perfect. The idea of a perfect G-d is a product of a much later period and not a tenet of Judaism."

While positing an imperfect G-d has always been one of the options in dealing with the Problem of Evil, I don't believe that I've ever heard a rabbi respond so quickly and so definitively.

Thoughts?