In both paintings Mary and Joseph appear as stylish fair-skinned, fair-haired Christians. To emphasize that these are Christian ceremonies they are conducted by high church officials. But these ceremonies and settings are alien to the origins of this Jewish couple from a rural village in Nazareth—when, in fact, the actual betrothal and their lives had everything to do with Judaism. All indications from the Gospel depictions say that Mary was immersed in Jewish life and practices.
...
Why should we care about these misrepresentations? A contentious and often violent relationship between Christianity and Judaism began in the first century, as the emerging Christianity sought to establish itself as separate from its deep roots in Judaism. Remnants of that divide continue to reverberate today. And art (particularly paintings and stained glass windows) was a major vehicle in Medieval and Renaissance Europe for teaching the populace about Church doctrines and perceptions—ones that often embodied anti-Semitism.
...
I wish that art historians, curators, and art critics would follow Pope Francis’ lead and finally acknowledge the falsification of biblical history in artworks that denied the Jewish identities of Jesus and Mary.
In excruciatingly detailed commentaries on artworks by professionals in the field the glaring feature of identity theft is almost never noted. Doing so would take nothing away from the magnificence of these works and their contribution to the development and enhancement of art and culture. But it would contribute to a long-overdue participation in the reconciliation of Christianity and Judaism. It would affirm the two sides of the Jesus and Mary story: Jesus and Mary the dedicated Jews and Jesus and Mary whose lives inspired a new religion.
Check out the exhibit "Putting Judaism Back in the Picture: Toward Healing the Christian/Jewish Divide" at http://jewishjesusart.com.
Today, the app contains everything from the New International Version to “The Message,” an ultramodern interpretation that reads like a juicy novel. It also includes the so-called Orthodox Jewish Bible, which was actually developed for a religious sect known as Messianic Jews, who believe that Jesus is the Messiah that the Jews await.
Photo credit: New York Times.
From the caption for the above image: "the Orthodox Jewish Bible...created by the Artists for Israel International Messianic Bible Society...incorporates Yiddish and Hasidic cultural expressions into an English translation of both the Old and New Testaments."
The Orthodox Jewish Bible is certainly among the Messianic movement's more idiosyncratic translations (which is saying a lot). This fit right into the article's emphasis on the wide range of different Bible translations available through YouVersion. That said, the two other major Messianic Jewish translations, the Complete Jewish Bible and the Tree of Life version, are also available through YouVersion.
Christianity Today
Christianity Today's recent issue on Leviticus mentions Messianic Jews in two of its cover stories. In Learning to Love Leviticus, Christopher J. H. Wright explains how Christians can treat biblical "as a paradigm or model for our personal and social ethics in all kinds of areas: economic, familial, political, judicial, sexual, and so on"...without "upholding all the jots and tittles." In a paragraph on the food laws, he writes:
The distinction between clean and unclean animals and foods was symbolic of the distinction between Israel as God's holy people and the Gentile nations (Lev. 20:25–26). In the New Testament, that separation is abolished in Christ, as Paul says in Ephesians 2. Through the Cross, God has made the two cultures one new humanity. And as Peter discovered through his vision in Acts 10, before going to the home of the Gentile Cornelius, what God has called clean should no longer be called unclean. Today some Messianic Jewish believers choose freely to observe the kashrut regulations as a mark of their Jewish community and cultural identity. But in their unity, believers are free from food laws.
Kudos to Wright for not ignoring the existence of Messianic Jews in the body of Messiah who observe the kashrut regulations of Leviticus. That being said, I found his claim confusing. Are the kashrut restrictions truly disruptive to unity? (In most Messianic Jewish synagogues I've visited, Jews and Gentiles experience free fellowship over kosher meals.) Furthermore, in conflicts over food between "stronger" and "weaker" brethren, didn't Paul instruct the strong to compromise for the sake of the weak? (This particular line of argumentation assumes that Messianic Jews observing kashrut would be identified with the weak. I myself don't necessarily read the passage that way, but perhaps Wright or those who agree with him do.)
The argument against the food laws from unity strikes me as rather weak on its own. In fact, I suspect that other theological convictions (such as the abrogation of the law in Christ or the supposed dangers of law observance) are really behind this argument, lending it support in the minds of those who accept it. Perhaps as post-supersessionist interpretation of the New Testament gains traction among contemporary scholars, Wright will find this reading of Acts 10 (and other related passages) challenged.
~
Readers who found Wright's comments on Messianic Jews rather uninformed may find much more to appreciate in Philip Cary's Gentiles in the Hands of a Genocidal God. Cary's thesis is that reawakening an awareness of the theological and historical significance of Gentile identity can significantly transform Christian perspectives on the Old Testament's troubling genocide passages. Christians tend to identify too much with Israel, Cary contends, to the point where they forget their place in the narrative. "We have been reading Israel's Scriptures so long that we forget that these words were not originally addressed to us.":
In fact, with respect to the command to exterminate the Canaanites, our position is less like Israel's and more like that of Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute in Jericho who befriends the Israelite spies. She has not taken part in Israel's exodus, but she has heard of it and believes it. She knows the name of the Lord, the God who has given the land to Israel, and she confesses that he is God of heaven and earth (Josh. 2:9–11). She is a believer, and eventually will be included in Hebrews 11's great litany of heroes who lived by faith. But she is not an Israelite. She is a Canaanite who hopes to live, not die.
As a believer, Rahab can have hope, because the threat she faces is not so much moral as religious. It is not as if the Israelites were so much more righteous than every other nation (Deut. 9:4–6). Israel is holy not because of their own righteousness but because the Lord loves them and chose them as his people. And the holiness of the Lord is a kind of jealousy that claims Israel as his own, not allowing other nations to lead them into worshiping false gods (7:5–8). That is the holiness that leads to herem, the extermination of Rahab's people for their idolatry.
My proposal is that to read this story properly, as Gentiles, is to put ourselves in Rahab's place. Our origin lies not with the people who hear the command to kill, but with those who are to be killed. We belong with those who should be devoted to destruction because we offend against the holiness of God. And yet what has actually happened is that, like Rahab, we have received mercy through faith in the God of Israel.
To read the Canaanite genocide this way is to have our hearts formed the way the New Testament intends for Gentiles.
I'm sure I wasn't the only one shocked to find this in Christianity Today. (For anyone troubled by the "fire and brimstone" tone of the above passage, make sure to read the whole article; Cary also discusses the beautiful consequences of identifying with Rahab, i.e. "You could say that what frees Rahab from herem is hesed, the lovingkindness of her relationship with Israel.")
Before concluding the article, Cary discusses to the historical relationship between Gentile Christians and Israel:
"In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3, esv)...Christ himself fulfills these words, making the blessing of Abraham into a blessing for all who believe.
Because of this gospel blessing, we can hear "I am the Lord your God" as words addressed to us, since we too share the faith of Abraham. But notice what this commits us to. It means we Gentile believers in Christ are to be a blessing to the people of Israel, "that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy," as Paul says (Rom. 11:31, esv).
Alas, what sort of blessing have Gentile Christians been to Israel? So much persecution of the Jews fills our history. Even our evangelism has often meant attempting to put an end to them. As Messianic Jews have recently pointed out, that is what Christians did by demanding that Jews who accept Christ must cease to practice Judaism—in effect ceasing to be Jews. It meant turning them away from their covenant with the God of Abraham and Moses, as if we had forgotten that this was none other than the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here Cary demonstrates familiarity with the central claims in Messianic Jewish thought--the unity of Jewish identity and Jewish practice, the validity of "Judaism," the deep flaws in the historic Christiant "gospel" of "Jesus, not Judaism." (Readers who find merit in Cary's insights here may want to check out his Jonah commentary before Yom Kippur.)
~
One other article in CT which may be of interest to Messianic readers is Daniel Harrell's account of The 30-day Leviticus Challenge his church did. I was half-expecting a conclusion like this: "After a whole month of these tedious and difficult laws, we were all more grateful for God's grace which sets us free from the law." Sure enough, Harrell set up a conclusion remarkably similar to this...and then elegantly debunked it:
But if reading Leviticus only succeeds in making you feel bad for being a lousy Christian, you've missed its point. Leviticus isn't in the Bible merely to show you your need for grace. It's in the Bible to show you what grace is for. The ancient Israelites were already chosen people before God gave them the Law. The Law's purpose was never to save anybody. Rather, its purpose was to show saved people how to live a saved life.
Reading on, I was also impressed by the transformations Harrell described in the lives of the Challenge participants: continued Sabbath practice, the conclusion that confession of sin is the "modern, post-Jesus equivalent" of sacrifices, and a congregational "Day of Atonement" (during Lent), of which he wrote:
Many left with similar feelings of walking on air—as well as intentions to be more grounded in God—which is precisely what grace (and the Law) are supposed to do. I couldn't help but wonder why we tend to view obedience as so burdensome. Could it be that we've never really obeyed?
Sounds like a pretty decent Day of Atonement to me.
It is a standard procedure to say “Pharisee” and mean “legalist, bigot, hypocrite, or picayune meddler into other people’s religious business.” Look at any dictionary. But this is in and of itself a caricature and stereotype, for no one (I hope) would think that all Pharisees have always been religious bigots. Such language spells danger down the road in ways that might surprise us. Even more, we have tended to download anger or extreme disagreement with others onto this term “Pharisee.” So, when I call someone a Pharisee I do not mean anything nice or even charitable. Which, in and of itself is dangerous because no group (well, there are exceptions) is always wrong and always bad.
Martin Luther — and this was all charted out in 1977 in EP Sanders’ Paul and Palestinian Judaism – tended to equate the Roman Catholic establishment with the Pharisees of the Gospels. Everyone should read this book, regardless of all the scuttlebutt about his ideas ever since. The invective of Luther against the Roman Catholics in the 16th Century then was downloaded onto the Pharisees of the New Testament.
Here’s the problem: the impact of our use of Pharisee is that we have learned to call all Jews and anyone we think is too conservative a “Pharisee.” This can get very close and often actually is anti-Semitism.
I'm glad this article caught your eye and happy to discuss it!
While we tend to think of the Messianic Jewish movement as beginning in the late 1960's, there was actually a movement of Jewish Yeshua-believers in the late 1800's in eastern Europe which dwarfed our current movement--hundreds of thousands. Many of the leaders of this movement were trained, learned rabbis who came to believe the New Testament--men like Joseph Rabinowitz, Theophilus Lucky, Paul Philip Levertoff, R' Isaac Lichtenstein, R' Yechiel Tzvi Lichtenstein, and R' Daniel Zion. Some in our movement have actually described this time period as the golden age of Messianic Judaism.
What happened to all these? Sadly, the Holocaust all but wiped these communities out. However, there is a growing awareness and desire to connect to this heritage. Vine of David, the Messianic Jewish publishing arm of First Fruits of Zion, has led the way in bringing the works of these Messianic luminaries to light (no small task since many of these writings are in languages other than English!). They have a "Remant Repository" on their website where you can browse these valuable texts. They also have published Paul Philip Levertoff's Love in the Messianic Age and Franz Delitzsch's Hebrew translation of the gospels, beautifully designed and bound editions which befit their majestic contents.
R' Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik did not identify with this European Messianic community. However, he was one of several rabbis in modern Europe who looked into the New Testament and did not find it anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish but rather deeply resonant with the teachings of Jewish tradition...who saw Yeshua as a faithful Jew and who felt that the world would be a better place if everyone, Jews and Christians, came to understand this. In this sense, he was the forerunner of many contemporary Jewish and Christian scholars who (based on far more evidence than R' Soloveitchik had at the time) have come to the same conclusions. It is a marvel that, at a time when the idea of Jesus as a faithful Jew was much more rare, R' Soloveitchik and others (R' Jacob Emden comes to mind) somehow perceived this truth.
Boaz Michael (president of First Fruits of Zion) wrote a blog post commenting on this Tablet article about R' Soloveitchik. You can read it here: A Rabbi Who Loved Jesus: Preface to Mark.
Reb Yitzchak Berkover is the richest man in town. His youngest daughter
is soon to be married. Everything is arranged. No expense is spared.
Everyone is invited, including the poor folk from the neighboring town
of Lipovitch. On the morning of the wedding, three wagons are sent for
them. Everything is going according to plan. The feast is prepared; the
chuppah goes up, when suddenly a horseman arrives out of breath to
deliver the blow. "They aren't coming." "What do you mean they aren't
coming!?" asks Reb Yitzchak. "They say they are already full from a
wedding this morning, so they will only come to your daughter's wedding
if each is promised a ruble." The family and friends
who have gathered burst into laughter, but Reb Yitzchak flies into a
rage. "You fool, why didn't you bargain with them? The nerve! Forget
it! I'll get along without them. They'll see. Fiddlers, strike up a
tune! Let's begin!" But with the sound of the first note, Reb Yitzchak
changes his mind; he mounts the horse and takes off in the direction of
Lipovitch. After a weak attempt at negotiation and an impressive
speech from the lead-beggar, Reb Yitzchak Berkover relents: "Get in the
wagons! A ruble for each of you!" Twenty minutes later, the
father-of-the-bride takes his place under the chuppah; the poor gather
around.
When the feast is served, Reb Yitzchak and his closest relatives
fulfill the mitzvah of serving the poor with their own hands. One poor
man raises his glass for a toast. "To your health, Reb Yitzchak! We
wish you long life and happiness from your daughter the bride!" He
replies, "And to you, brothers, L'chayim! May God bless you among the
whole congregation of Israel!"
After the meal, the musicians begin to play.
Reb Yitzchak dances to the center of the hora circle; his satin
coattails fly like the wings of an eagle. His eyes gaze upward; his
thoughts soar higher than the seventh heaven. He locks arms with the
poor and shouts: "Brothers! Let us be joyful as only Jews know how to be
joyful! Fiddlers! Play something a little faster, louder, livelier,
stronger!" They begin to spin. And the rich man cries big joyful tears.
It is interesting to compare this story to a parable nearly two thousand years older:
On
hearing this, one of the people at the table with Yeshua said to him,
"How blessed are those who eat bread in the Kingdom of God!" But he replied, "Once a man gave a banquet and invited many people.
When the time came for the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, `Come! Everything is ready!'
But they responded with a chorus of excuses. The first said to him,
`I've just bought a field, and I have to go out and see it. Please
accept my apologies.'
Another said, `I've just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to test them out. Please accept my apologies.'
Still another said, `I have just gotten married, so I can't come.'
The slave came and reported these things to his master. "Then the
owner of the house, in a rage, told his slave, `Quick, go out into the
streets and alleys of the city; and bring in the poor, the disfigured,
the blind and the crippled!'
The slave said, `Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.'
The master said to the slave, `Go out to the country roads and
boundary walls, and insistently persuade people to come in, so that my
house will be full.
I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet!'"
A fewbloggers have already highlighted the Third Helsinki Consultation on Jewish Continuity in the Body of Messiah. The participants created a joint statement about the significance of the Torah for Jewish followers of Yeshua, which contained the following encouraging selections:
We, the members of the Helsinki Consultation, ... are increasingly recognizing the intrinsic connection between this [Jewish] identity and Torah, the dynamic reality that has shaped the life of the Jewish people throughout its historical journey. We are also increasingly challenged to understand the continuing significance of the Torah encountered in the light of the gospel within the life of the Body of the Messiah.
...
We as Jewish believers in Yeshua acknowledge the special bond that unites us with Israel’s Torah. This bond with Israel’s Torah witnesses in the Church to the irrevocability of God’s gifts and call to Israel (Rom 11:29). For Yeshua said, “Think not that I have come to destroy the Torah, or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17). We believe in the continuing validity of the Torah even as it is fulfilled in Christ. Moreover, we see Christ as the incarnate Torah, the eternal wisdom of the Father in human flesh. He alone lived out the Torah in perfect form, and he calls his disciples to walk in his ways.
...
As Jewish believers in Yeshua we are in the process of working out the meaning and concrete implications of this bond that we collectively experience. We find ourselves in a variety of different ecclesial and Jewish communal contexts, and we hold different understandings and definitions of Torah observance. Some of us consider the observance of mitzvot such as Shabbat, Jewish holidays, and the dietary laws as an essential component of fidelity to Torah. Yet we all understand that our attempt to live in radical discipleship to Yeshua (in conformity to teaching such as that found in the Sermon on the Mount) is the foundational principle of Torah observance. Furthermore, we all understand our faithfulness to Israel’s Torah as a commitment to promote an awareness of the Jewish roots of the Church.
You can read the Berlin statement in its entirety on the Helsinki Consultation website. You can also see my previous posts on the First and Second Helsinki Consultations.
If
you're not following New Testament scholar Joel Willitts, you should
be. He's the one working with David Rudolph on Zondervan's forthcoming
compendium of essays entitled Introduction to Messianic Judaism.
In
his review of Daniel Boyarin's recent release, Willitts focuses in
particular on Boyarin's claim that "Son of Man" is actually a divine
title, derived from Daniel chapter 7. This leads Boyarin to the
surprising conclusion that
The theology of the Gospels, far from being a radical
innovation within Israelite religious tradition, is a highly
conservative return to the very most ancient moments within that
tradition, moments that had been largely suppressed in the meantime-but
not entirely . . . It follows that the ideas about God that we identify
as Christian are not innovations but may be deeply connected with some
of the most ancient of Israelite ideas about God (47).
Willitts has this to say:
Irrespective
of the highly speculative nature of Boyarin’s argument, the claim that
Daniel 7 contains both ideas, individual and corporate, with one not
outstripping the other is interesting. What’s more, the assertion that
two divine beings is a thoroughly Jewish idea is extremely provocative. I
have not studied the issue of the Son of Man sufficiently enough to
have any definitive evaluation. However, I think Boyarin’s argument
could open up new trenches for research.
I had the privilege of writing the weekly drash for the UMJC last week (head on over to http://www.umjc.org/ if you want to check it out).
Due to previous scheduling, I was also on tap to give the message at Beth Messiah this past Saturday. Given that I had already written the drash, I decided to use it as the foundation for my message.
Below is the message given at Beth Messiah this past Saturday April 14, 2012.
I want to talk today about remembering or the function of memory.
What is its purpose?
In order to dig in in a meaningful way we must first have a definition. There are few related definitions
a.To bring to mind, or think of again
b.To keep in mind for attention or consideration
c.To retain in the memory
There are others, but these fit the modern idea of remembering accurately.
While I am generally not a fan of defining or describing something by saying what it is not, I believe in this case it may help illuminate my point if I do so here.
What is the opposite of remembering? Forgetting.
In a 2006 article Professor Victor Shepherd wrote:
“To forget in modern discourse, is simply to have an idea or notion slip out of the mind. To forget a person is simply no longer to have the idea of that person in one’s consciousness.”
But he isn’t done. He goes on to say:
“But in the Hebrew Bible to forget someone is much more serious; to forget someone is to annihilate that person, obliterate him; destroy him. When the Israelites cried to God not to forget them they didn’t mean, ‘Be sure to think of us once in a while.’ They meant ‘Don’t annihilate us; don’t blot us out.”
Within this context
“forgetting has to do not with ideas but with living realities. In the same manner to remember has to do not with recollecting notions but with living realities.”
If remembering and forgetting are so tightly knit to our lives and our lifestyles is it any wonder why we see so many warnings against forgetting in the Torah?
Deut 4:9- “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. “ It goes on later to say “Make them known to your children and your children’s children“ but that’s for another day =-)
Deut 4:23- “Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God…”
Deut 6:12- “…then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Deut 8-11- “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today.”
Deut 8:14-“…then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
And we read in 1 Samuel 12:9 the consequence of Israel’s forgetting- But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab and they fought against them.
Ok…so enough about forgetting! I said I was going to talk about remembering, didn’t I?
I recently read that Jews are not simply commanded to believe the Torah, but that commitment to faith in the Torah also requires the act of remembering. Whether it is remembering the Shabbat, or remembering to blow the shofar at the appointed times; the call is to “Remember”.
Of course, this “remembering “is not simply an action of our brains recalling events; tied to these remembrances are actions designed to shape not only our thoughts, but to transform our very reality.
Professor Shepherd wrote:
“To remember is to bring a past event up into the present so that what happened back then continues to happen right now – and is therefore the operative reality of our existence.”
Every morning this week I woke up and got out of bed. I walked to the kitchen and found myself staring at matzah. Dry matzah. Even looking at it makes my mouth yearn for water. "Oh yeah, I remember. No bread." I am sure that this experience is familiar to many of us. Yes, this is part of how we remember God's rescue of the Israelites from Egypt. This is how Jews are commanded to memorialize the journey that the Israelites undertook in hast one day long ago. Jews all over the world are re-enacting and identifying, through personal experience, God's wonderful deliverance from slavery into freedom saying "I do this 'because of what Adonai did for me when I went free from Egypt'" (Exodus 13:8). Remembering is at the heart of who God has created us to be and what he has called us to do.
Of course, this deliverance from Egypt was just the beginning of Israel's journey. Following the exodus, G-d provided manna.
“Remember”.
He brought them to Mount Sinai.
“Remember”.
There he gave them the Torah and established an everlasting covenant with them.
“Remember”.
He tabernacled among his people.
“Remember”.
He led them to victory over their enemies and into the Promised Land.
“Remember”.
He promised the Messiah.
“Remember”.
In modern times, we stand poised to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Next week on April 19th The State of Israel will deliberately come to a complete standstill at 10 am for 2 minutes. Amidst the sound of sirens people will stop talking, stop walking and even stop driving- deliberately altering their normal routines in order to remember.
As disciples of Yeshua there is another vital call for us to “Remember” that is intimately tied to this Passover season: “Do this in remembrance of me”.
Luke 22 brings us to the evening of Yeshua’s last meal. He asked Peter and John to go ahead and find a place where they could all eat the Passover meal together.While at dinner Yeshua “took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:17-19 ESV)
One of Yeshua’s last acts with his disciples was to give them and us a memorial, a ceremony whereby we purposely disrupt our normal routine, quiet ourselves and actively engage. Through our participation today we are able to, in part, join that final meal and we are able to keep close the memory and reality of his sacrifice for all of us here and now.
What unfolded back then, altered forever those whom it touched. To this day Yeshua’s sacrifice continues to actively operate having the power to forever alter those who continue remember/commemorate/memorialize it.
Through our participation we are also actively remembering Yeshua’s promise to triumphantly return and set creation right. We remember and hold fast to the promises that Israel will once again be “a crown of beauty, in the hang of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” When Israel will “no more be termed ‘Forsaken’ “, and when the “land shall no more be termed ‘Desolate’”, but instead she will “be called ‘My Delight Is in Her’” (Isaiah 62: 3-4 ESV). While scripture is clear that God has not forgotten his people we still see instances of people crying our to God asking him to “remember!”
In Exodus32:13 we see Moses interceding on behalf of the Israelites- “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
Psalm 74 opens with “O, God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to by the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mt. Zion, where you have dwelt.”
As ones who are devoted to our Messiah, our participation in these memorials is a prophetic plea for God to remember his promises and his people Israel; to once again bring deliverance, redemption and restoration to His people and to all of creation. That what was announced in Yeshua’s death and validated by his resurrection would finally and completely come to pass.
Deut. 7:18-19 says "Remember... the mighty hand and the outstretched arm with which the Eternal your God brought you out [of Egypt]."
As we close out this season of Passover let us continue to remember in full not only HaShem’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt but also the redemption of the entire world through Yeshua’s sacrifice. May each of us remember with solemnity and gratitude the Mighty Hand that reached into our past and guides our present and may we continue to look forward, filled with faith and hope, at his outstretched arm reaching into our future.
In a scene from the second act of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George, the aging, wheelchair-bound Marie sits looking up at George Seurat's magnificent painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte." Seurat was Marie's father. Her mother, Dot, was Seurat's lover during the time he worked on what would become his greatest work. Thus, Dot is featured prominently in the foreground of the painting.
Standing with Marie looking up at the painting is her grandson, also named George. He too is an artist, but, unlike his namesake, this George is floundering, struggling to find an expression of his own.
Gazing up at the painting, Marie points to her mother and asks, "Did I ever tell you who that was?" George replies patiently, "That is your mother."
Almost as if without hearing him, Marie begins pointing at every other woman in the painting. As she does so, she sings:
Isn't she beautiful?
There she is....there she is...
There she is...there she is...
Mama is everywhere---
He must have loved her so much.
George's response is slightly cold: "Is she really in all those places, Marie?"
In The Concealed Light: Names of Messiah in Jewish Sources, Tzvi Sadan shows us how Jewish commentators through the centuries have stood before the Scriptures and, in a way not unlike Marie before her father's famous painting, seen hints of Messiah in the most unlikely places. Sadan gives his readers glimpses---one hundred different tableaus, if you will---of what they saw, concise summaries organized according to different names assigned to Messiah from Scripture by later rabbinic commentators.
Some of the names Sadan brings out are familiar: Branch, David, Lion, Son of David, Son of Joseph. Others are obscure: Donkey, Adder. Still others are even more startling: Pierced, Son of God. All of the names hold profound resonance for those who cherish the Hebrew Scriptures and who are convinced that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah of whom they speak.
The book is quite engaging on a first reading. In some cases, the connections are challenging to follow (Vav, Stone) because the original Jewish commentators hung their interpretations on the slightest details of the literal Hebrew wording or even lettering. However Dr. Sadan deftly navigates these passages, enabling readers of all levels to follow the interpretative leaps and bounds. And with each entry being only two pages long, the book is easily digested over numerous sittings. I anticipate returning to it regularly for devotional reading.
On a personal note: when I created this blog, I named it Gathering Sparks partially to represent the idea that I felt that there was much beauty, depth, and light in our Jewish traditions, and that it was our duty as Messianic Jews to gather, admire, and be enlightened by those "sparks." Dr. Sadan's book is a prototypical example of this kind of gathering effort, and I am deeply grateful to Vine of David for presenting it to us in such a beautiful form. However, it is not enough simply for Dr. Sadan to write it or Vine of David to publish it. In order for it to reach its full potential, we have to read it---and be nourished by its contents.
In Israel's Messiah and the People of God, Mark Kinzer makes a "radical and scandalous claim"---namely, "that Yeshua constitutes the true center of Jewish life." (p. 64) Dr. Kinzer is not the only Messianic Jew who has discovered this to be true. An ever-growing number of Jewish followers of Yeshua are encountering the Risen One, through the work of God's Spirit, within the pages of our Siddurs and the writings of our sages. The Concealed Light is a powerful witness to His presence within Judaism---for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
~
If what I've written at all intrigues you, inspires you, moves you, or reminds you of your own relationship with the Rabbi of rabbis, I exhort you: buy this book. Click here to view The Concealed Light for sale online through Vine of David. This review was written based on a advanced review copy I received.
Note: what you are about to read is highly tongue-in-cheek.
The world of critical Biblical scholarship encompasses an ever-growing number of approaches to the Biblical text such as historical-critical, source criticism, form-criticism, and redaction criticism. Postmodern literary theory also introduced us to a range of alternative readings via feminist, post-colonial, and identity theories. It is in the latter vein that I humbly offer yet another vantage point into the words of these historical sacred texts: namely, the "Jewish Guilt" reading of Jesus.
"Jewish guilt" literary theory seeks to expound the ironic nature of the many logia of Jesus by reading them from the vantage point of the 20th century Jewish mother (or grandmother).
I hereby present the first in what might be a series of explorations of Jesus' logia from the "Jewish guilt" vantage point (with apologies to my own mother and grandmother).
How much help can a translation of a translation be in studying the gospels? Answer: plenty! Here's the first of what could become a running series of examples.
Last week in a weekly Torah study I'm a part of, I mused (on the tenth commandment):
Is coveting your neighbor's wife necessarily the prelude to committing
adultery? Is coveting your neighbor's donkey the prelude to stealing? If
so, then is this last mitzvah a sort of "fence" around the previous
mitzvot? If it is a fence, then why did Yeshua teach that 'anyone who
looks on a woman lustfully commits adultery with her in his heart'--why
didn't he simply refer to this as coveting? (Possible answer: adultery
has a penalty of death, so it's considered a more severe
transgression...thus he heightened his point by focusing on the mitzvah
with the greater penalty.)
These thoughts were rather stream of consciousness, and afterwards I delved into a more detailed word study in both the Tanakh and the Apostolic Writings. So imagine my surprise (and joy) when I discovered that I was wrong, and Yeshua
actually DID use the word for coveting. Here's what I wrote back:
I
was incorrect; Yeshua DOES use the word for coveting in relation to his
statement about not lusting: "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a
woman to COVET AFTER HER [my literal translation] has already committed
adultery with her in his heart." [Compare the Greek text with Paul's lists of the commandments in Romans or Galatians.] This verse seems to be
universally translated as "to lust after" [See http://bible.cc/matthew/5-28.htm], with Young's literal translation being one notable exception. By contrast, the
Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels explicitly highlight the presence of the word covet in the text: "whoever gazes at a
woman to covet [footnote: desire] her..."
I am curious about the
near-universal choice of "lust" here over "covet" in English translations: is there a
strong linguistic basis for it or does it have more to do with the meanings of the English words "lust" and "covet" in our modern day? Or is it
simply the profound literary influence of the masterful KJV translation?
In any case, I think this is one great example of how the Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels can be highly effective in helping us to get to know the canonical Greek texts better, while simultaneously highlighting for us the fact that our English translations are just that: translations.
(Update: Rabbi Russ Resnik also draws this connection in his book Divine Reversal--see my comment below.)
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's book Kosher Jesus comes out next month. Boteach is a highly recognizable author (last week an op-ed in L.A.'s Jewish Journal endorsed Rabbi Shmuley for Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth--a position currently held by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks). While this makes Kosher Jesus a particularly notable entry in the ever-growing Jewish project to recognize/reclaim Jesus as a first-century Jew, there's a good chance it won't be a "kosher" treatment by Messianic Jewish standards. I will compile reviews and links here as I come across them.
Most of the ideas suggested in the “Kosher Jesus” reflect the ideas of
the British Jewish scholar Hayam Maccoby’s works. According to Maccoby,
Jesus was an observant Jew who followed Jewish law, much like a typical
traditional Jew of his era. Jesus erred in thinking that God would
supernaturally bring about the end of the Roman Empire; he hoped God
would let him inaugurate the Messianic Age that was foretold by the
prophets. Jesus failed in achieving these goals, ergo—he could not be
the Messiah.
Shmuely is a fine ambassador to the general community, but do not
expect him to be something he is not—a New Testament biblical scholar. . . . if you want to read something much more intriguing and
exciting, buy yourself a copy of the “The Jewish Annotated New
Testament,” which is now available. . . . Another great book is Geza Vermes’ outstanding book, “Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels” (Oxford, 1973).
"Christian ideas of Jesus as divine messiah emerged as a savvy
adaptation following the destruction of the Second Temple," Boteach
explained. Once Jews understand that, he writes that they "can take
inspiration from Jesus' often beautiful ethical teachings and appreciate
Jesus as a devoted Jewish son who became martyred while trying to lift
the Roman yoke of oppression from his beloved people."
Messianic Jews and some Chabadniks/Lubavitchers aside, the broad
distinction remains; Jews and Christians view the role and level of
importance of Jesus, as it pertains to their own theology, quite
differently.
What missionaries seek to do in converting unsuspecting Jews is portray
Judaism as a failed religion that was replaced by Christianity. Their
intention is to show Jews that without a divine Jesus they cannot
achieve salvation from sin. But contrary to these demeaning and false
claims, Christian scripture is itself absolutely clear that Jesus kept
the entire Torah and advocated that any Jew who did not do likewise
would be cast out from heaven. It is this Jewish Jesus -- the one that
"Kosher Jesus" uncovers from the pages of the New Testament itself which
was edited so as to deny some much of Jesus' Jewishness and
intentionally Romanize him -- that I am asking Jews to reclaim. The book
seeks to inspire Jews who have embraced Christianity to come back to
their people and keep every letter of Jewish law as Jesus himself both
advocated in the New Testament and adhered to himself.
Conceiving a Jewishly acceptable Jesus requires three steps:
Rejecting the Gospels and subsequent literature as inaccurate but
historically useful. By wiping away the authors’ biases, we can discover
the historical truth underlying their writings.
Accepting that there was a historical Jesus, and not merely a useful fiction or amalgamation of people.
Reinterpreting Talmudic stories of Jesus as polemic or references to other people.
All of these steps have rabbinic precedent.
The radical literary deconstruction Maccoby uses does not sit well
with me as a methodology. The deconstruction of texts in order to
discover the historical Jesus seems to me overly speculative. However, I
am happy to remain agnostic over whether Jesus ever existed and whether
he remained a devout Jew or founded a new religion because he is simply
irrelevant to my life. Kosher or non-kosher, Jesus is not someone
important to me since the religion founded on his life, whether
accurately or not, is not mine.
I find it hard to accept that [Rabbi Boteach's] book is somehow
heretical if, as he states (link),
he follows Maccoby’s approach. If his statements accurately represent
his book, then he has conducted an attack on Christianity and, like the
Disputants who preceded him, provided defense material for Jewish
countermissionaries.
Here is where the plot thickens. Partly inspired by our debates, Shmuley wrote a book entitled Kosher Jesus,
and it has caused a firestorm of controversy in the traditional Jewish
community, as a number of prominent rabbis have expressed their concern
that it will encourage Jews to read the New Testament and find out more
about Jesus. For traditional Jews, that is not a happy proposition,
especially given the 1,500 year history of the sometimes bloody,
“Christian” persecution of Jews.
As expected, I am frequently targeted by Shmuley in his book, albeit in
a friendly and respectful manner. At his request, I wrote an
endorsement for Kosher Jesus while at the same time expressing my
profound disagreements with it, finding the book far more offensive for
traditional Christians than for traditional Jews. Interestingly, I have
already read posts by other rabbis saying that if I’m endorsing the
book, it must not be good for Jews!
Despite Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s best efforts in “Kosher Jesus,” some
Jewish teachers and their messages are not worth reclaiming. Whether
because of their fanciful interpretations of the Bible or their odd
religious agendas, they are best ignored. I have in mind not Jesus but
Hyam Maccoby, the late, idiosyncratic religion scholar.
...
A reader reasonably might expect more scholarly competence in light
of Boteach’s boast of “twenty years of in-depth study” of Christianity.
Boteach ignores, however, the writings of such prominent scholars as
John Meier, E.P. Sanders, Paula Fredriksen and others who have
rigorously treated all these topics. He prefers websites, fringe
scholars and outdated works which is especially odd when important work
continues to be done, with new books by Daniel Boyarin and Peter Schafer
on Jesus and Judaism soon to appear.
Boteach’s choices are often inexplicable. For example,
he cites repeatedly the completely obsolete 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia
rather than, say, the revised 2002 New Catholic Encyclopedia. He relies
extensively on Michael Brown, a Jewish believer in Jesus with a degree
in Hebrew Bible, to explain the New Testament. By contrast, his few
brief references to serious scholarship are either superficial (he seems
to know Amy-Jill Levine’s work only through a Time magazine article he
cites) or incorrect (he misrepresents the main argument of Krister
Stendahl’s book on Paul).
The following is a summary of The Misunderstood Jew by Amy-Jill Levine ---a self-described "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly
Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt"---which I wrote up for a friend recently. If you haven't read the book, it's definitely worth getting. (It makes a good holiday gift too!)
Introduction (available online via Google Books)
- Levine introduces herself and her background and explains why the
Jewish background of Jesus and the New Testament (NT) is important to
everyone.
1) Jesus and Judaism - Discusses Jesus's positive
relationship to Judaism and debunks a number of common misconceptions
about Jesus's practice and about the Judaism of his time.
2) From Jewish Sect to Gentile Church - Discusses Jesus's followers and the development of the church
3) The New Testament and Anti-Judaism - Addresses (and for
the most part refutes) the accusation that the New Testament is
anti-Semitic or contains anti-Semitic passages.
4) Stereotyping Judaism - Addresses seven all-too-common misperceptions/stereotypes/slanders of first-century Judaism. These are things which are still taught from pulpits and in Bible studies! Here's the list:
The view that Jewish Law was impossible to follow, a burden no one could bear.
The thesis that all Jews wanted a warrior messiah who would defeat Rome.
The proclamation that Jesus was a feminist in a women-hating Jewish culture.
The conclusion that Jews were obsessed with keeping themselves pure
from the contamination of outsiders, whereas Jesus, especially through
his parable of the good Samaritan, broke through purity-based barriers.
The insistence that first-century Judaism was marked by a Temple
domination system that oppressed the poor and women and that promoted
social division between insiders and outsiders.
The assertion
that Jews are narrow, clannish, particularistic, and xenophobic, whereas
Jesus and the church are engaged in universal outreach.
The increasingly popular argument that the New Testament is not talking about Jews at all, but about "Judeans."
5) With Friends Like These
. . . - Discusses anti-Jewish prejudices in the church and its
educational systems; focuses specifically on Liberation Theology, the
World Council of Churches, the phrase "The Rabbis,"
multiculturally-oriented biblical studies which uses first-century
Judaism as foil by which to criticize practices of the dominant culture,
references to "the God of Judaism," and claims about "Jesus the
Palestinian."
6) Distinct Canons, Distinct Practices - Discusses the
different canons of Judaism and Christianity, as well as key differing
interpretations and practices; then criticizes certain types of
Jewish/Christian interfaith ventures (Christian Passover seders) while commending others (interfaith dialogue?).
7) Quo Vadis? - 26 (letters A. through Z.) specific
suggestions for ways for Christians and Jews to think, talk, and behave
that can help bring correction to all that's been discussed prior in the
book.
Epilogue - "If Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau, can
learn to live together in peace, there is hope not only for the
responsible and the prodigal; there is hope for church and synagogue as
well. And if the church and synagogue both could recognize their
connection to Jesus, a Jewish prophet who spoke to Jews, perhaps we'd be
in a better place for understanding."
So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift. If someone sues you, come to terms with him quickly, while you and he are on the way to court; or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer of the court, and you may be thrown in jail! Yes indeed! I tell you, you will certainly not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:23-26
The sin towards God, the Day of Atonement atones for; but sins toward man, the Day of Atonement cannot atone for till the neighbor has been appeased.
Mishnah Yoma 8
Then Kefa came up and said to him, "Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven! Because of this, the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared with a king who decided to settle accounts with his deputies. Right away they brought forward a man who owed him many millions; and since he couldn't pay, his master ordered that he, his wife, his children and all his possessions be sold to pay the debt. But the servant fell down before him.
`Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.' So out of pity for him, the master let him go and forgave the debt.
"But as that servant was leaving, he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him some tiny sum. He grabbed him and began to choke him, crying, `Pay back what you owe me!' His fellow servant fell before him and begged, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused; instead, he had him thrown in jail until he should repay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed; and they went and told their master every thing that had taken place. Then the master summoned his servant and said, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt just because you begged me to do it. Shouldn't you have had pity on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And in anger his master turned him over to the jailers for punishment until he paid back everything he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts."
Messianic Jewish New Testament scholar David Rudolph has launched a new online resource: MJStudies.com. The site is described as "a gateway to post-supersessionist New Testament scholarship."
What is post-supersessionist interpretation? A page on the site explains:
Messianic Jewish (MJ) post-supersessionist interpretation maintains that the New Testament writers affirmed (1) God’s covenant fidelity to the Jewish people, (2) that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah and participated in the unique identity of the God of Israel, (3) that Jesus-believing Gentiles were full members of God’s people without becoming Jews, and (4) that Jesus-believing Jews should continue to live as Jews in keeping with Israel’s calling to be a distinct and enduring nation.
Already the site is burgeoning with references to post-supersessionist books, essays, journal articles, conference papers, lectures and videos. I intend to use it as a go-to reference to scholarly works on various scriptural and theological issues.
The next time you find yourself looking for a commentary on a book or passage in the Apostolic Writings / Brit Hadasha, you can go to mjstudies.com and see what's been published from a post-supersessionist vantage point. And if you come across a resource which isn't on the site, you can suggest it via the site's contact form.
So check the site out by clicking below! Or better yet--follow the MJStudies blog to stay up-to-date on the latest resources!
On a related note, last month Tikvat Israel Messianic Synagogue of Richmond, Virginia welcomed Dr. Rudolph as their new rabbi. I, for one, am very glad to have Dr. Rudolph back on the east coast (and not too far from the D.C. area!). Given his history of providing helpful resources for the Messianic Jewish movement and beyond, I am excited to see what Dr. Rudolph will bring to Tikvat Israel, which is already a dynamic Messianic Jewish community. Mazel tov!
Update: Robin Parry of Theological Scribbles now has a blog post up highlighting the new site.
Archaeologist, award-winning auther, and department chair at George Washington University, Dr. Eric Cline gave a presentation summarized as follows:
Speculating on the whereabouts of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel has been popular for longer than the search for the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. Suggestions for where they ended up have ranged from America and Britain to India and Africa, and virtually every place in between. However, few proper investigations of this “mystery” have been conducted. Now, utilizing three separate and completely independent sources—the Biblical account, the contemporary Neo-Assyrian inscriptions, and the archaeological remains from both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah—it can be confidently shown that the Ten Tribes of Israel were never lost.
Sometime in the first few centuries C.E., the first bound books—termed codices—revolutionized the way people read the words of prophets, kings, scribes and thinkers. . . In an article for the New York Times Sunday Book Review, author and book critic Lev Grossman reflects on the remarkable technological shift that occurred nearly 2,000 years ago and whether the growing popularity of e-readers will mark a similar shaft in how we read.
Something very important and very weird is happening to the book right now: It’s shedding its papery corpus and transmigrating into a bodiless digital form, right before our eyes. We’re witnessing the bibliographical equivalent of the rapture.
The answer, of course, is yes. Anthony J. Saldarini writes quite powerfully:
To wrench Jesus out of his Jewish world destroys Jesus and destroys Christianity, the religion that grew out of his teachings. Even Jesus’ most familiar role as Christ is a Jewish role. If Christians leave the concrete realities of Jesus’ life and of the history of Israel in favor of a mythic, universal, spiritual Jesus and an otherworldly kingdom of God, they deny their origins in Israel, their history, and the God who has loved and protected Israel and the church. They cease to interpret the actual Jesus sent by God and remake him in their own image and likeness. The dangers are obvious. If Christians violently wrench Jesus out of his natural, ethnic and historical place within the people of Israel, they open the way to doing equal violence to Israel, the place and people of Jesus. This is a lesson of history that haunts us all at the end of the 20th century.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see much noise in the Messianic blogosphere about the Second Helsinki Conference on Jewish Continuity in the Church. If you recall, I posted last year about the first such gathering, including a link to the statement released by the conference participants (see my post from last year, Helsinki Conference on Jewish Believers in Jesus). Well, thanks to Hebrew Catholic blogger Athol, I read about the second such conference in the conference press release, including quotes (underlined) from Dr. Mark Kinzer and Fr. Antoine Levy on the interconnectedness of the Jewish people and the Christian Church:
"PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 6 July 2011
Second Helsinki Conference on Jewish Continuity in the Church Affirms the Significance of Jewish Believers in Jesus
The second Helsinki Consultation on Jewish Continuity in the Body of Messiah met in Paris, France June 24-28, 2011. Building on the 2010 Helsinki Statement (see below) Jewish scholars from France, Germany, Israel, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, belonging to Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Messianic traditions, deepened their relationships and advanced in their discussion of crucial issues concerning the relationship of the Body of Christ to the people of Israel.
The conference was jointly organized by Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (MJTI), the Paris Istina Centre for Ecumenical Studies and the Helsinki Studium Catholicum. The participants issued a statement on “Am Israel – Our People” affirming the increasingly significant presence of Jewish believers in Jesus for both the Church and the Jewish people. The papers presented are due to be published in the journal ISTINA, the academic journal of the Dominican study centre in Paris where the conference took place. A similar event is planned for 2012.
Dr. Mark Kinzer, author of Postmissionary Messianic Judaism, Senior Scholar and President Emeritus of MJTI, said “The identity of the Christian Church is inseparable from that of the Jewish People, and the identity of the Jewish People is inseparable from the person of its crucified and risen Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth. It follows that the Jewish people and the Christian Church are so intimately bound together that it is impossible to adequately understand one without also understanding the other. We have met to deepen our own understandings of these realities, and to encourage our people and our churches to reflect further on their mutual interdependence.”
Father Antoine Lévy, OP, Director of the Helsinki Studium Catholicum, called forgreater recognition and encouragement for Jewish believers in Jesus at an ecumenical level. "Like the interaction between men and women, the interaction between Jews and Gentiles pertains to the spiritual dynamism of the whole Church. It embraces and pervades local congregations and Church organizations. Accordingly, I see no reason to prevent Jews from developing a distinct life of worship within the Universal Church. Wherever they are, whatever their Church affiliation may be, I believe that Messianic Jews should gather and build a home within Am-Israel, a home for themselves as well as for their fellow Jews who would be willing to join."
Here is the statement produced by this year's conference:
CONFERENCE STATEMENT The theme of this year’s consultation was “Am Israel – our People”. As the many papers demonstrated, the identity of the Jewish People is complex, consisting of historical, familial, ethnic, cultural and spiritual components that are all essential and inseparable. The paradoxical nature of Jewish identity challenges us to avoid reductionist interpretation and to explore further the mystery of our people. As Jewish believers in Jesus, we affirm our identity as part of both the people of Israel and of the Body of Christ. We recognise the pain this affirmation may cause to some of those of our people who do not believe in Yeshua. We are also aware of the misunderstanding that can occur in the Church when we state that we continue to be part of the Jewish people. Nevertheless, we believe that we are a living witness to the mysterious and invisible bond which persists between the Church and Israel. Our dual membership brings us into a unique relationship with one another, and also entails weighty responsibilities and formidable challenges. Our two communities have been separated but belong together. We bear witness to the tragedy of their division and herald the hope of their future reconciliation. We are exploring how this unique relationship to one another as Jewish believers in Jesus might take visible form as a wider fellowship dedicated to the service of the Jewish people and the body of Messiah. Speakers from Europe, Russia, Israel and the United States included Father David Neuhaus, SJ, Patriarchal Vicar General for Hebrew speaking Catholics, and Boris Balter, Researcher in Physics at the Russian Academy of Sciences and member ofthe Judeo-Christian circle "Bridge of Friendship". Conference papers were given in English, FRENCH and Russian...
It seems to me that Messianic Jews were well represented at the conference: alongside Dr. Kinzer were Dr. Richard Harvey, Lisa Loden, Rabbi Vladimir Pikman, Rabbin Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Jennifer Rosner. It'd be great to be able to get a copy of the conference proceedings, as I'd love to read any and all of these papers.
