Around the World: Lesson 1- Judaism
Overview
Understanding Our Jewish Neighbors
Judaism shares deep roots with the Christian faith, yet important differences remain that we must understand if we are to love our Jewish neighbors well. Jewish identity itself is twofold: one can be religiously practicing or culturally/ethnically Jewish, with descent traditionally traced through the mother. The faith centers on the Torah (the first five books of Scripture, whose name carries the picture of "an arrow that hits the mark"), the Tanakh (the whole of what Christians call the Old Testament), and the Talmud (rabbinic commentary, oral tradition, and written word combined). Within these writings are 613 commandments, though many cannot currently be observed because the Temple was destroyed in AD 70.
At the heart of Jewish faith is fierce monotheism, confessed twice daily in the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and concluded with Numbers 15:37-41: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone." The divine name (YHWH) is considered too holy to speak, so readers substitute Adonai or Elohim. From this conviction, Judaism views the Christian Trinity as a compromise of monotheism. Two other key concepts shape Jewish life: tikkun olam (repair of the world) and halakha (the walk—daily living guided by ethics and the study of God). Sabbath gathering for prayer, study, and fellowship echoes the pattern of the early church described in Acts 2:42. Notably, Judaism does not teach original sin or human depravity; instead, it emphasizes obligation to good works that mend the world.
Regarding the Messiah, Jewish hope historically carried both spiritual and political weight—a deliverer who would end oppression. Because many would-be messiahs died and Rome continued to oppress, and because Jesus also died (and his resurrection was rejected), modern Judaism largely treats messianic expectation as a faded hope. Even the Exodus story is sometimes dismissed in secular Jewish circles as a bubbe meise—a grandmother's tale. A Jewish person who confesses Jesus as Messiah is generally considered a traitor to the tribe, while Gentile Christians are simply regarded as outsiders.
Pastorally, two cautions matter. First, the Holocaust must be held in mind whenever we speak with Jewish neighbors. The trust between Jews and Christians was deeply broken, in part because Martin Luther's 1543 treatise On the Jews and Their Lies was later weaponized by the Nazis. Luther's earlier (1523) and final (1546) writings called Christians to love their Jewish neighbors gently and honor them as the lineage of Christ, but his harsh middle-period words caused lasting damage we cannot ignore. Second, we must resist the popular assumption that Christians and Jews simply worship the same God and therefore have nothing to share. Because Jewish faith denies Christ's death and resurrection, withholding the gospel from Jewish neighbors is neither loving nor kind. The shared Scriptures, vocabulary, and ethical heritage give us a beautiful bridge—but the bridge leads somewhere: to Jesus the Messiah, in whom every promise finds its yes.
Transcript
Good morning. I tell you what, I thought I would start with the easy world religion because 2s
you know we're Christians and we know so much out of where we learn and work so much 7s
out of the Old Testament which is the Jewish holy scripture and so I thought okay we'll 14s
start with Judaism. Oh my goodness gracious, y'all we could spend weeks on just Judaism. 20s
It is incredible if and we will pray in just a second. I didn't forget if if you're interested 28s
in diving more because there is there's no way we're going to be able to cover all the 40s
ins and outs of of the faith that will be studying the next five weeks but two things first 45s
this is the book where I'm getting the bulk of my study done. It is the Christian difference, 53s
it's an explanation in comparison of world religions really really excellent so it is written each 60s
section is written by someone who has come to faith out of one of the previous or other religions. 68s
So the man who wrote the section on Judaism he grew up Jewish, he grew up in a Jewish home and he 78s
is now a Lutheran pastor. Praise the Lord. So if anyone is interested in diving in more it is not 85s
for the faint of heart, it's not hard to read but you just kind of read it and you go 94s
right so always good for a laugh at. So let's we have a lot to just a lot to get through and 101s
we're not going to get through it all I can just tell you right now. So let's begin in prayer. 117s
Lord we thank you so much for gathering us here yet again this morning to celebrate your 121s
goodness, your mercy, your glory. Lord we ask that as we come together to learn more about you and 128s
about our Jewish neighbors this week that you would open our hearts how we can understand them better 135s
and bring a loving and kind and full witness of your goodness and mercy to them. Lord we ask that 143s
you bless this time of study and that we would go about the rest of our weeks in your goodness and in 152s
your glory. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay so Judaism just a couple of really quick 159s
brief overviews. So this is a Jewish Bible if anyone reads Hebrew let me know but it's interesting 167s
because in Hebrew they work backwards so it's right to left and back to front so it's really 176s
fascinating to open it up and they don't have vowels they don't use vowels so they are taught 184s
and you just kind of have to learn. Now they did go in some some scribes I think they were 192s
vowel sounds so Hebrew is a very interesting language it's very picture oriented so it's it's 206s
gives a picture or an idea of something Hebrew was much more difficult to take than Greek for me 216s
but it's it's fascinating and if anyone would like to see we have a book of prayers children's book 226s
of prayers in Jewish or in Hebrew and in English and so these are these are really fun to go through 236s
because as we'll find out today prayer is super super vital and important in the Jewish life. Now 242s
what's really interesting is that in order to be a Jew you can be a practicing Jewish person 251s
or you can be culturally Jew you don't have to be both anyone whose mother is Jewish is automatically 263s
in the tribe is is part of the Jewish people that being said and I cannot remember exactly when 275s
that switch occurred but during Jesus' day he was he found his lineage through Joseph because 285s
Joseph is descended so it used to be found through the father's line but now and for a long time 293s
now I can't remember I've looked this up before but now it is through the mother's line that that 301s
heritage is found and there are a lot of Jews today who are culturally Jewish but but not 307s
practicing their faith we have some key teachings that we are familiar with that they they turn to 317s
which the Torah is one Torah well write down some words Torah and this specifically we think think of 326s
it as law but really the the translation of Torah is arrow that hits the mark arrow that hits the 337s
mark and see it's a picture language it's a picture language so so the Torah itself is the 347s
Pentateuch it's the first five books in the Bible Genesis hot diggity dog that's awesome yes 355s
it's the first five books in the Bible and those all point to how one can hit the mark right the 368s
Jewish people if they follow what is in the first five books of the Bible they can hit the mark 378s
exactly the tonk is it is the whole of the old testament and that is 386s
and I will say the the Hebrew words are really fun to say so you're welcome to say any of them out 398s
loud I'm not gonna blame you but that takes both the Torah the Pentateuch and it takes the oral 404s
tradition because everything was handed down through oral tradition it takes that and it's compiled 412s
into the tonk and that is all all together so that is what we know as the old testament it is the 421s
writings it is the prophets it it goes off of the Torah and then within that we have 613 429s
myths both yeah yeah 613 441s
and this is these are the laws these are the commandments so 613 commandments within the tonk 447s
and tradition the oral tradition and tradition itself is very very important in the Jewish culture 466s
and religion it's all in there the Talmud is a combination so there are a lot of writings 477s
but remember that within Judaism there's a lot of a lot of discussion the debates that they have 487s
that we read about when Jesus is sitting there with religious leaders and they're debating that's 496s
called pillpool and so that is something that they engage in all the time so they take the pillpool 502s
they take the the teachings and they compile them and so the Talmud has it has a rabbinical commentary 508s
it has the oral tradition it has the written word together and it's all compiled and then it's 518s
it's read every week in synagogue so that's a very very very very basic overview of some of 525s
their writings some of their key teachings and this is this is where we start to find that 538s
with a lot of their key teachings and a lot of of their kind of values as a as a people 545s
we have a lot in common which can be a wonderful bridging point but it also has been 554s
historically a place of real contention and we're going to find how that is so one of their or 564s
their first key teaching is that they they believe in monotheism they believe that there is one 571s
god there is only one god and so so in the Jewish faith we as Christians who confess a triune god 578s
one god but three and one we are seen to be monothe or polytheistic we're seen as worshiping 588s
three gods where we know that that and it's I mean we are not going to get into the Trinity right now 595s
but not doing that but we know that we have one god um three persons in one god and um but they 602s
they have one god one god alone Yahweh which they do not say the name they have several different names 611s
but that is too holy to even speak um and we see that we see Yahweh like that um and that that is 617s
the name there is um the name that they use in place of this um is adonai which means gods 630s
which is very interesting because we have the triune god three and one and when they pray and use 639s
the name of god they say adonai which is plural um so it's kind of interesting but um what was I 647s
saying thank you okay so you will see um you'll see in the Bible when they when they in the Jewish 660s
Bible when it's this when it's Yahweh you will see capital L-O-R-D with O-R-D in lower case but when 667s
they would come across that they would not say it that's it adonai or Elohim um not not not the name 675s
no like an English uh speaking Jewish person may say Lord but not when reading scripture 687s
they're coming into contact with the the holy name and so they do not say that um and that is 696s
taking the do not use your Lord's name in vain that is taking that to a very severe degree they 703s
don't want to even risk saying it wrong so they don't say it at all yeah yep yep absolutely I was 712s
just gonna just gonna get there very cool um so they have a they do not want to cross the line at 729s
all um so they they stick with this now we will hear the word um Jehovah right and that is a mixing 737s
it's actually an accident that is a mixing of adonai with Yahweh or Elohim with Yahweh so it's mixing 746s
the holy and mixing um with the the word that they are allowed to speak the name that they are 755s
allowed to speak so Jehovah is actually a um uh an error in pronunciation so um but as a Christian 762s
people we we know when someone uses the word Jehovah we know what it means and um don't don't 773s
rebuke anyone um if they use Jehovah because we know that we know um the Messiah so the Jewish people 780s
did believe in a Messiah and they believed that the Messiah would bring about a certain rule and 791s
reign and power for the Jewish people there would be no more oppression for the Jewish people 798s
and through the years um that has kind of gone by the wayside they kind of say well there could be a 804s
Messiah there couldn't be it's not like they are waiting with anticipated breath for a Messiah 813s
because history has taught them kind of a dashed hope dashed dream they had other Messiah's prior to 820s
Jesus who um who died who were killed so then Jesus comes along and they put all their hopes into 829s
or you know a lot of the people put all their hopes into Jesus and then what happens they watch 837s
him die and so then when he is resurrected they deny or they reject his resurrection because he 844s
still died and Rome is still oppressing them so the Messiah has a lot of political um leaning 851s
in power and need and deliverance built into it in the Jewish uh into the Jewish people so there 861s
have been many Messiah's in history according to the Jewish understanding but um but through history 869s
with their hopes being dashed with them still being persecuted or oppressed um they kind of 878s
like modern day Judaism um thinks it's a cute cute story um yeah 885s
when they when you're here fighting the Messiah but didn't part of them looking for the Messiah as a 893s
blocker coming back you know the coming back in the summary you're using the Messiah is some 900s
like a flat against Rome back yeah they wanted a Messiah to fight against Rome 906s
and some of them but there's only you who released the Messiah as a spiritual 910s
the Messiah with Judaism the Messiah um had a spiritual component but it had a political component 915s
that um and that's where the political aspect um it didn't follow through they still were oppressed 922s
the whole call for the Jewish people as a tribe was to be separate to be a people unto themselves 933s
and that is why you don't have you know Jewish missionaries going out and and trying to convert 943s
people into Judaism because if you are if you are Jew a Jew then you would be so um by birth 951s
or if you married into it but they do not like like as a whole and this is this is a lot of 962s
generalizations so if you have Jewish neighbors or friends um and and you're sitting there going 968s
that's not my experience absolutely this is on a whole um generalizations um and and every you 973s
know every individual is going to be different um but they are to be a separate people and um 981s
yeah we'll go ahead and jump there right now so this is where the um the Holocaust and when 990s
speaking with our Jewish neighbors the Holocaust is so important to keep in mind because in the 996s
1900s the Jews let down their guard and they got familiar with their neighbors with their people 1003s
with their community and they did not expect the cruelty and the the just utter evil to happen to 1013s
them because they were neighbors they had mingle they had intermingled and um and so the Holocaust 1024s
is very very important to keep in mind and I think it's an important this is kind of an aside but 1033s
I think it's important for us to keep in mind anyway because that is a a just evil outright evil 1040s
in front of our faces our kids need to understand that evil exists in this world and um I just think 1048s
that's a total aside but we need to understand that evil exists in the world and and how um we 1057s
how we live um in opposition to that one of the things with the Holocaust that caused a lot 1063s
of um of breaking between the Jewish people and their Christian neighbors is that Martin Luther's 1071s
writings were used in defense of the Holocaust um now I think that it's important for us to know this 1078s
and uh I I like how this author puts it um so so Luther was not inherently anti-Semitic 1087s
um early in his career he has writings that are very loving um for the Jewish people calling 1101s
Christians to be kind and loving to their Jewish neighbors so there was no question that he had 1111s
entered into um into ministry loving his Jewish neighbors and and and supporting that 1117s
um and then Luther had a writing that was against the lies of um oh it's on the Jews and their lies 1125s
it was written in night in 1543 and and he argued that Jewish synagogues schools and prayer books 1135s
should be burned that rabbis should be for forbidden to preach and homes property and money should 1143s
be confiscated and the 1930s Germans um used that and so in the Holocaust museums you will very 1149s
possibly find writings of this writing of Martin Luther as an excuse and that has damaged 1159s
greatly the trust and the relationship between Christians and their Jewish neighbors 1168s
now in a sermon three days before Luther died in um he again let me find this here 1175s
he returned back to um back to the position that he had in 1523 so he again spoke of loving the 1191s
Jewish neighbor um so it really stinks it's very unfortunate that his writing is preserved 1202s
that was used in a very very bad way yes there was um uh did it did it did it did it did it hold on a 1213s
second here let me find it yes I've read I've read all of this there's a lot of information in here so 1229s
um okay so it was a religious dispute um so he had written he had written a treatise in 1523 1240s
that was entitled Jesus Christ was born a Jew and he wrote of the Jews as an honorable people who are 1250s
the lineage of Christ advising a gentle approach for them and speaking against the very things he 1257s
wrote in 1543 but um but in 1543 um as he had been having some success at witnessing to Jewish people 1262s
in and around Vittenburg um he came under attack by local Jewish anti-missionaries who called 1275s
Luther a false teacher and that Christ was a false Messiah and that Christianity was a false religion 1282s
and so those are the lies that he was responding to um and Luther um for all the good and the the 1288s
wonderful um direction that he put us as a Christian people on the path with scripture being 1301s
scripture being scripture right the word alone faith alone grace alone um he was human 1308s
and he sinned and um and he did did come back and um and again to return to the 1523 1314s
treatise um in in being kind and gentle with our Jewish neighbors um he was definitely one of those that 1328s
was loud, brash and spoke possibly um just out of emotion we don't know fully what his intention was 1340s
and i bring that up because when we speak with our Jewish neighbor this easily could be brought up 1350s
that's been brought up to me when i was when i was in Lutheran seminary one of my family members 1360s
who i did not grow up Lutheran one of my family members said Luther's the reason for the Holocaust 1367s
how do you feel about that? So um so have to go back and and look at that and um and you know when 1372s
when evil is at hand it will seek anything and everything to um to move forward right but 1381s
ultimately God's word prevails and God's goodness prevails and and he keeps his hand upon us so 1389s
i do want to bring that up because there's no way when you are speaking with um a Jewish whether they 1397s
are a faithful practicing Jew or a tribal Jew right ethnically a Jewish person um the Holocaust will come 1404s
up and um so i think that that's that's important to know so um another very key teaching in Judaism 1412s
is tikun olam which means repair of the world so they do not have a teaching of original sin they 1424s
absolutely do not believe in the depravity of man um but they do have an obligation to works 1433s
and the obligation to works is in order to achieve a more perfect world yes yes 1442s
where did the good marker go there we go sorry okay 1452s
tikun olam okay so tikun olam is repair of the world um and holoca will write that one down too 1465s
holoca is an important part of this holoca is the walk so we've got repair of the world and we've 1482s
got the walk and the walk is really that daily living guided by a system of ethics and study of 1490s
God so it's this is where you are you are walking repairing the world by studying the word of God 1499s
and living under the systems of ethics that God's word gives so it's a constant um a constant happening 1510s
and part of that a huge part of that is shabbat or sabbath and it's resting as a people together 1519s
away from the rest of the world and so they go to synagogue and they come together and that time 1529s
is um studying God's word it is praying it is fellowship sounds very familiar to the first 1537s
church in Acts 2 where they were devoted to the fellowship the teaching of the apostles 1545s
breaking of bread and prayer that is a great example of um of sabbath because they are spending 1552s
life together at least once a week they are coming together shutting out the rest of the world 1561s
and and really living as a people um it's it's done as a community and you get the fullness of the 1569s
community in that um midrash I dare you say midrash so pillpool is debate right that's that's where 1581s
they get in and midrash is where um one is seeking answers to religious questions so pillpool we 1590s
we read about that in the bible where where there is discussion amongst the scholars amongst the 1599s
religious authorities and Jesus they're engaging in pillpool when they're debating over things 1606s
then there's also where when at the feet of the rabbi and the rabbi is sitting there teaching 1611s
that is midrash where people can ask questions and the rabbi can teach can give religious answers so 1618s
a good example comes up in our reading today where Jesus has been has been sitting there teaching 1632s
and blessing the children and and he gets up to go and and a young man comes and he 1639s
he kneels down before Jesus and he says what must I do to inherit eternal life that is where he 1644s
is seeking an answer to a religious question that would be an example of midrash um so something that 1651s
is absolutely key in Judaism is and this goes along with the um with the uh monotheism goodness gracious 1661s
the monotheism is um they're uh oh yeah yeah they're shema or shema which if you open your 1673s
bibles to Deuteronomy six we'll find this Deuteronomy six and you guys already know where Deuteronomy is 1683s
that was awesome you all know the Pentateuch so well so I'm going backwards so Deuteronomy is the 1692s
fifth book in the Bible it is the fifth book of the Pentateuch we're going to Deuteronomy six 1699s
starting in verse four where it says here oh Israel the Lord is our God the Lord alone you shall 1708s
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might keep 1718s
these words that I am commanding you today in your heart recite them to your children and talk 1723s
about them when you are at home and when you are away when you lie down and when you rise bind 1728s
them as a sign on your hand fix them as an emblem on your forehead and write them on the door 1735s
posts of your house and on your gates twice a day morning and evening the Jewish people are to 1740s
do the shema and it begins with that with that proclamation here oh Israel the Lord your God is one 1750s
or the Lord is your God the Lord alone and and then there is a response and then the rest of 1760s
those verses is is read then they they have another portion of Deuteronomy that they read and then 1768s
it ends every shema so twice a day every shema ends with numbers 15 so let's go back to numbers 1775s
let's just back one chap or one book numbers 15 verse 37 through 41 or verses 37 through 41 1786s
where it says the Lord said to Moses speak to the Israelites and tell them to make fringes on the 1802s
corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each 1808s
corner you have the fringe so that when you see it you will remember all the commandments of the Lord 1812s
and do them and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes so you shall remember and 1818s
do all my commandments and you shall be holy to your God I am the Lord your God who brought you 1824s
out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God so again you begin your prayers with 1830s
hero Israel the Lord is your God alone and then you end with the Lord's words that he is your 1839s
God he is your Lord so that begins everything and just like we were talking about their belief in 1849s
the monotheistic you know one God alone that is built into everything so we have as a people I say 1859s
ethics guidance and and laws now the 613 a good portion of those are not doable because the temple 1879s
was destroyed in 70 AD so so they do not have they cannot follow all 613 but the ones that they do 1888s
have they do they are still expected to follow so they believe that God is is God there's one God 1899s
they do not believe that there's a Messiah they've been disappointed and so they're not going to do 1909s
that again very guarded because of the history especially the Holocaust and then the the feast and 1915s
the festive gosh there's so much to get through and okay we may do a little more Judaism next week too 1931s
because it's fascinating because we a misconception is that by the Christian churches that we don't 1937s
have to say anything to our Jewish neighbor that that we really are worshipping the same God that we 1944s
really are basically in line with our Jewish neighbor but we're not because they deny Christ 1952s
they deny his death and yes resurrection yet 1965s
yes well the sacrifices and the offerings they are not they they can't do the sacrifices right now this 1982s
goes in with the 613 myths and they can't do that so everything they can do they are still 1989s
obligated to do but this is where we come into that interesting kind of division where you have 1997s
for lack of better term several denominations within Judaism where some really it is all cultural 2006s
right we are part of we are Jewish because we're part of this tribe but there is no religious 2015s
significance to it and they actually have what they refer to like Exodus the story of being brought 2020s
out of slavery from Egypt there are some sex and Judaism that refer to that basically as grandmother's 2028s
stories it's a little better a little more reverent than an old wives tale but not much it's it's a 2037s
cute story oh gosh what is that called a a Bubba Mace a Bubba Mace yes so so even though they go 2043s
through these in their feasts in their festivals which we need to get to oh my gosh they're they're 2054s
just stories so so with this man what what what this previous Jewish man who is now Lutheran 2060s
pastor I almost said Lutheran rabbi oh my goodness this Lutheran pastor he says that 2070s
that it is harmful for us and it is not loving and not kind for us to not share with our Jewish neighbors 2079s
we are we will I we're just gonna have to you know what we were gonna do five different religions 2092s
but we may just do one no we will we will do some more but but we have to there's so much built into 2096s
this that is just fascinating that we have to return to this I was gonna say something else and I 2106s
can't remember what it was but it's just amazing we are next week we'll touch on the on the feasts 2112s
and how there's so much that is built into the Jewish faith that points us directly to Christ and 2120s
this is why you know I thought oh we'll start with Judaism because it's just this easy link and 2130s
then I start reading and I'm like wow this is amazing and there is a lot more to it than what I 2134s
expected and I also want to get into the how are we not worshiping the same God because that's 2140s
that how does that make sense but we're gonna we're gonna do those two things since we are 2147s
definitely returning to this is there anything else that we definitely want to touch on next week 2154s
with Judaism oh they are traders yes so he asked he said what about Messianic Jews like there are 2158s
there are Jewish converts to Christianity and and Jewish people the Jewish people are fine with 2170s
with whatever anyone else in the Jewish tribe wants to believe they are fine with Christians who 2183s
are Gentiles but a Jewish Christian is the only thing that they have that is like a heretic or a 2191s
traitor no they they are no longer to be considered Jewish yes so you have okay so you you know 2199s
someone who was Catholic then converted to Messianic Jewish which that is a Jewish person who 2214s
who follows this with the understanding that Jesus has died for our sins and and right so 2222s
I feel sad because then they have just put themselves under the burden of the law right um 2232s
although I so I grew up Catholic so I will say I mean kind of under the burden of the law 2240s
as a Catholic too but um yeah interesting very very interesting okay yes 2247s
prophecies that point towards Christ well they don't read some of them they skip right over them 2258s
legitimately yep yes yes yes yes 2265s
sorry differences that the modern 2285s
okay and that's another that is another thing that I didn't get to yet I'm telling you 2286s
there is so much to cover it is just unbelievable it was like opening just it was just amazing amazing 2291s
and that's also why I say like this is a great book but be ready because you will dive in and then 2301s
have a hundred more questions and then go on all sorts of tangents is so we have a lot to cover next 2306s
week god bless and we will we will continue diving into Judaism next week thank you 2313s