During the week covered by this review, we received 3 articles on the following subjects:
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Jesus
Messianic Judaism
Christian Tourism
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Jesus
The Jerusalem Post, February 13, 2020
This was a piece written by an English student at Bar-Ilan University, who described her experience in a multi-ethnic class exploring the role of story in different religions and traditions. In one of the class outings, a Muslim woman asked why Jews have rejected Jesus. The woman explained that Muslims believe that God is one, but that his prophets need to be honored and respected. Muslims, therefore, accept both Moses and Jesus as prophets. The Jewish author of the article responded that Jews reject Jesus because he “didn’t fit our idea of Messiah. He didn’t bring sovereignty, or the Temple, or peace. We don’t believe that God would inhabit a physical body.”
Messianic Judaism
Time Out, February 12, 2020
This was an interview with chef Shirel Berger, who grew up in a Messianic Jewish home and has become known for her vegan cooking. Berger said she does not consider herself “vegan” because she rejects ideologies that resemble a religion. Even though she was raised Messianic, she said she hates religion. Berger further said that no matter how you look at it, Messianic Judaism is a kind of Christianity, which means she was raised on the notions of grace and turning the other cheek, which she believes shaped her concern for animal and environmental welfare. She cannot understand how modern Christians avoid talking about nature. If they believe in God, why don’t they care about the animals he created and his earth? Why don’t they take care of it?
Christian Tourism
Haaretz, February 7, 2020
This was an interview with Nathan Pearce, an American Christian who is currently living in India and recently visited Israel. Pearce grew up in Missouri, in a Christian home. But as a teenager he just wanted to distance himself from his parents and partied a lot. He later read an article that caused him to question how he was going to measure his life – by his money, by success, by family? He started to reconsider his relationship to God, and through the mentorship of another Christian man who was also in a fraternity (as Pearce was), he renewed his faith. Pearce said something was awakened in his heart and made his head “explode”. He felt he needed to make a new effort with God, but also accepted that he wouldn’t be perfect.