Final Exam - SL401!

It has been great being with you in this course. Your final exam will only serve to further reinforce the benefit you have each received in all the work you have already done. Your final exam is due Friday, June 1st, but since I am getting this description late to you today, I will accept your responses as late as midnight on Sunday, June 3. Please submit these to me by e-mail at . Also, cc your final to Provost Carl Kinbar at

I. Write a book review on any two of the following books using the format following:

Kugel, James. On Being a Jew. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1999.

Olitzky, Kerry M., and Daniel Judson. The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 2002.

Goldstein, Niles E., and Peter S Knobel, eds. Duties of the Soul: The Role of Commandments in Liberal Judaism. New York: UAHC Press, 1999.

Rothschild, Fritz A. Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism from the Writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel. New York: Free Press paperbacks, 1959.

Sonsino, Rifat. Six Jewish Spiritual Paths: A Rationalist Looks at Spirituality Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 2000.

BOOK REVIEW FORMAT

Your Name
Publishing Data: (Author, Title. Place, Publisher, Date)


Author info (who is the author? What should we know about him/her?:

Summary of book contents

Thesis (What viewpoint is the author seeking to promote or prove?)
Major sections of the book in short summary paragraphs, showing how each section develops an aspect of, or gives support to the main thesis.

Importance of the book's presentation for the development of Messianic Judaism.

React to the author's thesis and its development--positively, negatively, or both--in relation to own opinon, experience, and perspective on the subject matter presented.
Review to be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. From one and a half to two pages in length—only!

II. Answer all three of the following questions

A. Take a position pro or con and on the following issue. “Should Messianic Jewish Congregations differentiate between the roles and lifestyle appropriate for Jewish and Gentile members?” Use biblical data in our answer, but not only biblical data Do not simply make this response a Bible study, but incorporate issues such as the specific calling of the people of Israel and the nations, the nature of the unity of the Body of Messiah, the One New Man spoken of in Ephesians two, issues of our relationship to the wider Jewish world, issues of integrity, the purpose of the Messianic Jewish Movement in the hand of God at this time in history, and pastoral realities. Response should be between three and five double-spaced pages.

B. Using the Cube of Messianic Jewish Spirituality as your base, draw up a proposal for your Messianic Jewish Synagogue, or of a hypothetical 75 percent Jewish majority Messianic Jewish Congregation as to why and how this cube should form the foundation of an Adult Bar/Mitzvah Class. Such a class provides an opportunity for people with at least one Jewish parent to lay claim to their Jewish identity when for one reason or another they never had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah as children. Alternately, such a class serves as an introduction to Messianic Judaism for people who want to understand it more deeply. This curriculum would cover a two year curriculum. Your task here is NOT to draw up the cuririculum but to (1) Explain each of the elements of the model; (2) indicate how they might be interrelated with each other; (3) Explain why the model is necessary and proper for such an educational program; (4) Defend the model as being substantially comprehensive as a basis for Messianic Jewish spirituality; (5) Indicate in what ways, if any, your find this model inadequate as a basis for such a program: what would you do differently and why? Wherever possible, make reference to materials from the required readings from this course. Your audience is primarily the Board of the congregation, and secondarily, the members of the congregation. Response should be between four and six double spaced pages.

C. Choose three insights or issues from this course that you believe have affected you most deeply or will have most impact on your life, and explain why. Indicate what plans you have for possible changes in your life as a result. Response should be two to three double-spaced pages.


If you at all familiar with it, use the Chicago Manual of Style as your guide for formatting. Formatting will not negatively effect your grade, but attentiveness to matters of formatting will push your grade higher!

WEEK TEN: On Messianic Jewish Evangelism/Outreach

This posting is part of a continuing series of interaction with a book I am currently reading, "The Continuing Conversion of the Church," by Darrell Guder , a warm and highly competent missiologist, now Academic Dean at Princeton Seminary. My writing here is not by way of formal essays, as much as reflections as part of an ongoing process. This is a posting from my own blog, Rabbenu.blogspot.com Although it touches a matter outside of what we have been discussing in our course, it is closely related, and certainly a matter close to our hearts. Enjoy

Guder extensively explores what is meant by the gospel. Much that he says is instructive for the Messianic Jewish movement, either by way of agreement or by way of contrast.

He reminds us that the gospel is first of all “the gospel of God,” “the good news of God.” He sees the gospel as a message of God’s goodness, “a goodness which God has made known, has revealed, and which defines God’s purposes” (29). And because of Israel’s history with God, the gospel is not the first good news of God: “God’s people have experienced this goodness; it has been Israel’s gospel from the call of Abraham onward. . . . Through the particular encounter of God with Israel, the good news that God is loving and purposeful enters into human history and becomes knowable” (29). I would certainly add to this, that Israel’s good news has also always been that God is Redeemer. Therefore, using a bracket, I would modify one of Guder’s cogent statements as follows: “Jesus’ coming and his message are good news, as it has always been good news when God [comes to rescue his people and] makes God’s self and purposes known” (30).

Due to its pervasive supersessionist world-view, missiology in general fails to note how Israel’s experience with God is a proleptic foretaste of the gospel. Coining the term “crypto-supersessionism” might be of help here, which term means “supersessionist presuppositions functioning at a subconscious world-view level which, while unacknowledged, become evident in their effects.” Such crypto-supersessionism is evident even in dispensationalist Jewish mission circles where supersessionism per se is flatly rejected. Even in these circles, crypto-supersessionism is known by its fruits: anti-rabbinism, anti-nomianism, and anti-Judaism. Due to such assumptions, both the Jewish missions culture and the church fail to take due note of Israel’s repeated and continuing experiences with “the gospel of God,” when God has come to rescue his people and make himself and his purposes known. These experiences are proleptic, that is, they anticipate the greater good news that comes through and with Yeshua the Messiah.

This connection between Israel’s prior and ongoing experience with God and the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah requires that all conceive of the gospel presented to the Jewish people as “more of the same (that Israel has known) and much more than that.” This viewpoint highlights the tension between continuity and discontinuity, between oldness and newness, that must be maintained if we would rightly testify to the works of God.

Once one grasps this principle, this paradigm of continuity/discontinuity, oldness/newness, “more of the same and much more than that, becomes apparent in Scripture.

For example, when God calls Moses in Exodus 3, especially verses 5-10, and as expanded in Exodus 6:1-9, he establishes that this good news, this gospel, is both what they have experienced before (I am the LORD [who] appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty [vv. 2-3], and yet something new, (“but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them”) [verse 3b).

Of many other passages that could be cited, Isaiah 63:7ff., so beautiful, it breaks the heart, speaks perhaps most poignantly of the continuity of God’s past mercies as a ground of hope for deliverance now.

7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel which he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 8 For he said, Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely; and he became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his holy Spirit, 12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, 13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. 14 Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So thou didst lead thy people, to make for thyself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven and see, from thy holy and glorious habitation. Where are thy zeal and thy might? The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion are withheld from me. 16 For thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is thy name. 17 O LORD, why dost thou make us err from thy ways and harden our heart, so that we fear thee not? Return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy heritage. 18 Thy holy people possessed thy sanctuary a little while; our adversaries have trodden it down. 19 We have become like those over whom thou hast never ruled, like those who are not called by thy name.

The language contrasts the light of God’s steadfast love—hesed—and the darkness of Israel’s turning away, spoken of here in such relational terms—“Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely; and he became their Savior” (v. 8). Notice the echoes of the Exodus here, and of the language and the message of Moses’ call, “In all their affliction he was afflicted . . . in his pity he redeemed them . . he lifted them and carried them all the days of old” (See also Psalms 105-106).

The Isaiah passage speaks of continuity and discontinuity, of (incipient) promise and fulfillment, of the mercies of the past, the troubles of the present, and the hope of new good news from God. Past, present, future, all intermingle in this paean of praise to Israel’s God. After reviewing God’s history with Israel and theirs with Him (vv. 7-10), the passage speaks in verses 1 to 14 of how later deliverances where grounded in the precedent God’s mercies in the Exodus and wilderness wanderings. This again echoes the rhythm of God’s dealings, continuity/discontinuity, oldness/newness, more of the same and much more than that. Then, in verses 15-19, the prophet applies this pattern to the current dilemma of God’s people, using language intermingling past and present, toward the hopes of a new redeemed future.

All of this calls for a dramatic redrawing of the approach long favored by the Jewish missions culture and church whereby the Older Testament is seen primarily as prophetically predicting the realities of which the Newer Testament speaks. Such an approach is crypto-supersessionist when and where it assumes that the Older Testament is but a preparation for the Newer. It relegates the people of the Older Testament, and by extension the Jewish people throughout time, to the status of preparation but not the status of participation. Without disparaging Messianic prophecy as a phenomenon, the patterns of Scripture and the texture of God’s dealings mandate that we also see the Older Testament as more of the same that the church knows as the gospel, “the good news of God.” Against the background of a religious culture which has become habituated in seeing the Jewish people as fundamentally lost, without hope, and without God in the world, (terms Paul properly applied to pagans), the church, the Jewish missions culture, and Messianic Judaism must learn to see Jewish people as “God’s good news people,” that people who have repeatedly experienced, remembered, and anticipated “the good news of God.” In fact, if the Jewish people were not God's good news people, there would be no good news from God for the rest of the world!

Am I saying that we therefore ought not to “bother the Jewish people with our Jesus?” Emphatically, No! Do we have anything new, important and crucial to say to the Jewish world? Emphatically, Yes! But in all our saying, we must deeply know that the Jewish people are “the good news people.” It is the habit of the church and missions culture to view Jews as bad news people. According to this construct, all Jews are necessarily going to hell, except those few who believe in Jesus—that’s bad news; the Jews have a leadership that fails to lead tem toward God, and seeks to prevent their finding His embrace through Yeshua the Messiah—also bad news; their religion is one of fruitless legalism and rule-keeping devoid of the power of the Spirit and the relational reality only possible through Yeshua the Messiah—bad news for the Jews again. The church, especially the conservative church, and missions culture seem to be negative about the Jewish people’s spiritual prospects and spiritual experience. This theme plays like a tape loop in the actions and theologizing of supersessionist and crypto-supersessionist Christianity. Missing from this message is the awareness that the Jews have long acquaintance with good news from God. As mentioned earlier in my adaptation from Guder, “Jesus’ coming and his message are good news, as it has always been good news when God [comes to rescue his people and] make God’s self and purposes known” (30). And this is good news for the Jewish people, not merely “as well,” but actually, God’s good news first for the Jews, for the Jews have always been God’s good news people, and the bearers of that good news for the rest of the world.

When we present the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah to Jews, we ought to highlight the continuity of this gospel not simply with Jewish prophecy, but with Jewish communal experience throughout time and to the present day. For example, is not the founding of the Modern State of Israel, the regathering of Jews from the four corners of the earth, and related matters good news from God? Of course it is!

In this regard, it is proper to insert just one word in the song of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people [again], and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.”

In Yeshua the Messiah the God of Israel has kept his promise to his people, and not to them alone. It is best that we consider these mercies as an occasion when God has done it again, and has outdone himself. It is a Dayenu experience! God did this, then this, then that, then this, but now he has outdone himself yet again.

The good news of Yeshua is not the first good news from God that the Jewish people ever heard. Rather, this is more of the same and yet, much more than that!

WEEK TEN: On Guidelines and Limits for Gentile Liturgical/Ritual Behavior in MJ Congregations, and Related Issues

Paul asked,

What is and is not appropriate for Gentiles? I understand and agree in principle. But I have no framework for analysis here. Or, if I do, I am unaware of it. In an orthodox synagogue the roles seem clearly defined. Gentiles were a kipa and may pray from a siddur. They are not counted as part of a minyan. They do not lay tefillin or don a tallit. They do not get called to the Torah or lead prayer. They can drive to shul without raising an eyebrow. What is more, as long as they adhere to the Noahide covenant, they are considered to merit a life in the olam haba. So there is no distinction in salvation there either. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Paul, I don’t think the list is random, and should be fairly easy to discern. What is inppropriate for Gentiles is any action which embodies the unique calling of the Jewish people or which lays claim to that calling.

For this reason, Judaism frowns upon Gentiles observing shabbat. Yes, I know that is politically incorrect. But to Jews, it feels like a boundary violation. Our shabbat liturgy even speaks of shabbat in these terms: “You did not give it, HASHEM, our God, to the nations of the lands, nor did You make it the ineritance, our King of the worshipers of graven idols. And in its contenment the uncircumcised shall not abide—for to Isrel, our people, have you given it I love, to the seed of Jacob, whom you have chosen. Your people that sanctifies the Sventh—they will all be satisfied and dlighted with your goodness . . . ‘Most coveted of days,’ you called it, in rememberance of the act of creation.”

Israel takes pride in the shabbat as a covenant sign between her and Israel (Exodus 31), and is jealous over the sign, the same way your wife would be jealous if another woman in your synagogue began wearing a wedding ring which is a duplicate of the one you share with your wife, just because the other woman likes the way it looks.

So, covenant signs, privileges, marks of Israel’s unique relationship with God, Ritual acts that call attention to these, these are the areas to be avoided. For this reason, I do not have Gentiles come up to read the Torah or Haftarah, only the B’rith Chadasha. Gentile men should not wear a tallit. Now, there is a distinction between public acts and private acts in the degree of offense or impropriety. Should you forbid Gentiles to eat kosher? Hardly! But, it seems to me, the offense and impropriety is especially grave in the area of public ritual acts which lay claim to Israel’s unique standing, acts like coming up to the Torah and wearing the tallit, saying blessings such as “who chose us from among the nations and gave us his Torah.” These are the boundary areas where offense and impropriety is greatest.

This puts Gentiles serving as MJ rabbis in an especially difficult place. In my view, at the very least, when and where such persons utter such prayers in public, or commit to such ritual acts, they should be people formally seeking conversion. The higher road, although not possible for most, is to forego the rabbinical title certainly and even the position until such conversion takes place.

These are controversial issues, I know, and are not meant to express disrespect for Gentiles as a class, or for any individuals or classes of individuals. But it seems to me, that if we are going to lay claim to Jewish space, we must play by Judaism’s rules.

What offends me most is when I encounter Gentile people who have a sense of entitlement about such matters, feeling that their own interpretation of Scripture or that of some group to which they belong entitles them to reassign Jewish sancta to themselves, and/or to transmute the meanings long attributed to these sancta. Such acts seem to me a form of disrespect.

Now, of course, promulgating such guidelines in contexts where they have historically been ignored is a very risky business. Unless I miss my guess, there is tremendous confusion, emotionality and entitlement surrounding this issue in our circles. The heat surrounding the issue is, in my mind, due in large measure to the fact that traditions have been established, and behaviors allowed and or condoned before adequate theological and missiological thought had been invested on the broad scale of our movement and in the microcosms of congregations and individual lives. It is very difficult to introduce such boundaries where none had existed. At the very least we are speaking of years of teaching and discussion, and a policy of gradualism in those contexts where practices have been condoned which now seem inappropriate.

Cornelius touched on this issue stating:

“Also it seems there is the problem of what is right behavior by all the Gentiles within Messianic Jewish congregations and of how to deal with this especially in portraying a Messianic Jewish Spirituality to non-believing Jews who look in and see a Gentile predominance.”

Cornelius, you have touched on a huge issue—one that may spell the end of the MJ Movement as a force for Yeshua among the people of Israel. The word is out that our congregations are predominantly Gentile. There is no way that such congregations are a sign to the Jewish world that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah who enhances, validates, reinforces, empowers Jewish life. For most Jews such congregations are at best quaint, at worst cultic or just strange. There is no way of getting around this reality.

It would be like a black person stopping into a meeting of the NAACP to find a room full of white folks.

The strangeness is the more acute when all these Gentiles are wearing tallises, blowing shofars, doing “David Dancing” (a strange phenomenon if I ever saw one), etc.

But of course, we can just say, “To hell with what the Jews think!” which may be what some people feel.

Some will say “Well this is the way we make Jews jealous” in fulfillment of Romans 11. Hardly. Jews are not jealous of Gentiles who do Jewish things, and are especially not jealous of Gentiles who act strange with Jewish props.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a very articulate, brilliant and well educated (PhD) Messianic Jewish woman who has a Japanese husband. She and her children are all Israeli citizens (I am not sure of the husband could be under Israeli law), and are Hebrew speaking. She attends a church nearby, but with the family, attends a Conservative Synagogue where they are all members. Why does she not go to a MJ congregation, you ask? She told me yesterday: “Because I don’t want my children hanging out with a bunch of Filipinos.” Now this is NOT a statement of prejudice: Her husband, also a professional, is Asian, and all her children half Japanese/half Caucasian. The issue is one of identity formation. She wants her kids to grow up knowing and feeling they are Jews. And you can’t do this in a climate where the Jews are hard to locate!

I got a call this morning from a highly placed Messianic Jew who is agonizing over just this issue in the identity formation of his own children.

These are BIG issues, which it is not safe to discuss widely in our movement. But they are still issues.

I have more to say in terms of addressing these matters, but for now, less is more.

WEEK NINE - On the Holy Spirit and Mitzvah-Oriented Messianic Judaism - Part One

Some of you have asked excellent questions on this issue, and I wanted to do some more work on addressing it. I will be logging on more about this and other issues in our remaining time together so please check each day.

As is mentioned in one of our dvd’s this week, our tendency is to assume that there is a tension, a contradiction needing to be resolved, between the Presence and gifts-operation of the Holy Spirit and Mitzvah-oriented Messianic Judaism. But think for a moment: is that tension latent in the realities of which it speaks? Or is the contradiction more in our minds and cultural assumptions than anything else?

One thing seems certain—in the Bible, not only is there no contradiction assumed between mitzvah-keeping and the operation of the Spirit, the two are assumed to be coordinate. See for example, Jeremiah 31 – “31 "Here, the days are coming," says ADONAI, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra'el and with the house of Y'hudah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a husband to them," says ADONAI. 33 "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after those days," says ADONAI: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” As Walter Kaiser points out, the deficiency alluded to in verse 32 is not in the covenant itself. The problem was the people broke the covenant by breaking the commandments. By the way, the covenant is a broader category than the commandments—they broke the covenant—the relational agreement—through breaking the Torah which was the operational standard of the those bound to the covenant. But in the future, in the Newer Covenant envisioned by Jeremiah, what is changed is not the Torah, not the standards of behavior, but the nature of the covenant, that God would so inscribe the Torah on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that it would become a fully internalized standard.

Similarly, Ezekiel 36:27 looks forward to the day when “I will put my Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them,” and, in chapter 37, 23 "'They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning; and I will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations.” Here we have some aspects of the ideal state, according to Hashem—Israel gathered together, cleansed and repentant, filled with the Spirit and walking in the laws, rulings and regulations of Hashem. And of course, there is nothing in the context to give us reason to expect that these laws, rulings, regulation, generically—these mitzvoth, will be fundamentally different from the commandments Hashem gave to our ancestors. And notice again—from the vantage point of Scripture, the work of the Spirit is presumed to be a means toward, not a substitue for, Torah obedience.

I think part of the problem for our movement and for our people Israel as a whole is that we are not yet repentant. We in the Messianic Movement have been taught to repent of our lack of Yeshua faith, but the Bible makes it clear that we must also repent of our failure to keep God’s Torah!

R. Kendall Soulen helps us with this clarifying statement:

"According to the story that unfolds between the Lord, Israel, and the nations. Accordingly, human sin is never merely the sin of the creature against the Creator-Consummator. Human sin is also always the sin of Jew and Gentile, of Israel and the nations.” (R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996:153).

The sins of the Messianic Jewish Movement and of the Jewish people are far more dire and extensive than simply the record of individual human failings. If we would think biblically, these sins include, and indeed are foundationally, our failure communally, familially and individually to live in covenant faithfulness to the God of Israel.

The Older Covenant Scriptures are replete with evidence of this, or course. But does the Newer Covenant bear this out? Consider this: What are the people of Israel indictable for in Stephen’s words in Acts seven:

51"Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! You do the same things your fathers did! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! - 53 you! - who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels - but do not keep it!"

A few questions—and, on this subject, there could be many more!

(1) What role does our movement’s rootage in Dispensationalism, and in Christian thinking in general, have on blinding us to the need to repent from not keeping Torah?
(2) How might our deeply repenting of this failure make the way for the Holy Spirit to work in a new way in our movement?
(3) How much is our expectation for how the Holy Spirit’s moving is manifest shaped by experiences in the Christian world rather than simply by Scripture?
(4) In keeing with passages such as I mention above, what characteristics might a Spirit-filled mitzvah-oriented faithful Messianic Judaism have that we have thus far not been conditioned to look for?

WEEK NINE - Your Assignments

My friends,

Thank you for your patience with me this week. In order for us to complete our DVD’s in this course, we will be watching some next week as well.

TO WATCH
For THIS week, because of their thematic cohesion, please make sure you have seen an interacted with 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, and 6.1 Our main themes will be the role of Study in Judaism, and sub-themes on Kashrut, and Ritual life. The DVD 6.1 is more general and philosophical, and gets us into our hashgafa—our general worldview on religious life, and the role of halacha.

I know this is quite a bit, but it will make next week go better. If you absolutely cannot do all of this, then leave 6.1 for next week.

TO READ
As for readings, all of these are coordinated with the DVD’s in question:

Sonsino on “The Spirituality of Study” (both the related Section in our packet and in his book).

Section on Study (Ruth Gais chapter) in Olitzky and Judson, plus the related material in our Section G - beginning about page 74.

Section T in our Packet - on Life-Long Learning Among the Jews

Also, Foreward, Introduction and Chapter 3 on Kashrut from Olitzky and Judson plus related packet materials.

TO DO
Because of our strange week and a late start, two questions instead of three will be more than adequate.

Let me tell you though, the material from Olitzky and Judson will turn you on, and the material on Life Long Learning Among the Jews will challenge your life and vision.

That’s it for now.

WEEK EIGHT: Discussion, Questions, and Answers on the Distinction Between Israel and the Church - Part One

Paul's first question:

(1) Does the framework of the Body of Believers set forth in Scripture contemplate the Church being separate and distinct from Israel? Even if not, I understand that it is a present fact of life, and that we must be thankful to it for the preservation and promulgation of the Gospel. But if not, how does that affect our view of Spirituality as R. Dauermann defined it previously, being "the consideration, discussion, study, and pursuit of means toward that end[, Holiness]?”

Paul, words are important. Those who seek to detract from Dr. Kinzer and myself and the positions we espouse accuse of just this thing: postulating that the Church is separate from (Messianic Jewish) Israel. However, this is NOT our message nor is it helpful. In fact, the term “separate” describes the opposite of what we describe, which is the full unity of the Body of Messiah. The Messianic Jewish Remnant and the Church from among the nations are distinct—this is the right word.

The most helpful way to describe the difference is to speak of the wedded state of a man and a woman in a healthy marriage. In such a marriage the woman is fully a woman, the man fully a man. The more feminine the woman, and the more masculine the man, the better the marriage. But, as Scripture reminds us, “the two become one flesh”—they are not separate, but united. In fact, when we speak of a husband and a wife separating from each other, it does not bode well for the marriage. Nevertheless, marriages are healthy only to the extent that the husband and wife have distinct and healthy identitites themselves.

Similarly, the MJ Remnant and the Church from among the nations are healthiest when each is distinctly themselves—the Remnant being fully Jewish in its life and calling, the Church, faithful to its own life and calling, but both truly in union with each other as one ekklesia, or what one might call a “differentiated” ekklesia.

Again, those who use the term “separate” (not yourself!) generally use this term to portray us of rebuilding the middle wall of partition. And that’s another concept that needs addressing.

The middle wall of partition describes not a distinction in demographic or covenantal identity, but a difference in status. The dividing wall of hostility was one where those who were God’s insiders (Jews) were hostile to the intrusion of outsiders (Gentiles), and vice versa. Now the dividing wall of hostility has been removed, because in Messiah, Gentiles become full citizens of the people of God as Gentiles—no longer to be considered as second class either by themselves or by Israel. This does not and cannot mean that Gentiles thereby become Jews. If that were the case, then one would have to assume that the category of righteous animosity toward Gentiles remained in place (since the only Gentiles that can now draw near allegedly become Jews—the other Gentiles remaining categorically outsiders). However, this is not the case. In Yeshua, Gentiles are now received by God as Gentiles, and should be received that way by Messianic Jews and eventually all Jews.

I gave a presentation in a Church last week-end which addresses these matters. What follows are my notes for the presentation. I trust all of you will find it helpful. (We will deal with the role of Gentiles in our congregations vis-à-vis the Torah separately).

THE EMERGING MESSIANIC JEWISH PARADIGM
A Presentation by Stuart Dauermann, PhD

The following are seven ideas summarizing a helpful approach to understanding the roles of the Church, the Jewish People, and the Messianic Jewish Movement with respect to the Missio Dei, that is, the Mission of God—what God is up to in the world. This approach is explored in greater length in Mark Kinzer’s 2005 book, “Postmissionary Messianic Judaism: Redefining Christian Engagement with the Jewish People,” and in my forthcoming book, “Converging Destines: Jews, Christians, and the Mission of God.” This approach is especially helpful for Christians looking for ways to be faithful to Christ and also respectful of the identity and heritage of their Jewish friends, relatives and neighbors. This paradigm helps to coordinate in thought and action the broad sweep of how Scripture addresses these issues.


1. God is honored by Jewish Torah obedience. This applies no less to Messianic Jews than to the wider Jewish community. In the Older Testament this is evident from narrative texts concerning the giving of the Law (Exodus 19-20; Deuteronomy 4:5-8). In addition, prophecies concerning Jewish renewal at the end of days state that this end-time turning to God will include a renewal of Torah obedience (e.g., Deuteronomy 30:1-10, and Ezekiel 36:24-27). The Newer Testament also extols Jewish Torah obedience for all Jews, including Jewish Yeshua believers. Luke-Acts highlights the Torah obedience and Jewish piety of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Lk 1:6); Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus (Lk 2:21-24, 27, 39-51); Simeon and Anna (Lk 2:25-26, 36-38); Jesus Himself (Lk 4:16 and many others); and the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17-26). Clearly, Jewish Torah obedience for all Jews was presumed to be the God-ordained norm.

2. Such Torah-faithful Messianic Jews form the living link whereby the Church from among the nations is joined to the Commonwealth of Israel, and serve the Church by helping her reconceive of her identity and vocation as rooted in that of Israel. The One New Man of Ephesians, chapter two, expresses a unity of two distinct communal realities living together not in uniformity, but rather in love and mutual blessing. These two distinct realities are the Yeshua believers in Israel living as Yeshua’s people in Torah-based Jewish piety, and the Church from among the nations, serving Him in their own contexts, apart from the requirements of Jewish piety. This is why Paul was insistent that Gentile Yeshua believers should not become circumcised and seek to keep the Law: not because the Law is wrong, but because it is not God’s call and will for Gentiles, who become part of the people of God through Christ alone. This is also why James expected Paul to model Jewish piety, but said he required no such thing of the Gentiles who have believed (Acts 21:24-25), and this is why the Jerusalem Council disputed long (“much debate,” Acts 15:6) before deciding that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised, and required to keep the Torah. This dispute only occurred because Jewish Yeshua believers assumed they were responsible for continuing to do so. Their debate was over whether the requirement of Torah-obedience applied to Gentiles as well (see Acts 15:1-21). Rather than superseding the Jewish people, the Church instead joins with them as part of the Commonwealth of Israel. Only in this way can the “dividing wall of hostility” – which supesessionism maintains – be removed, with Israel and the Church living in the peace Yeshua established rather than in competitive enmity.

3. Understanding her identity and vocation in this context, the Church will celebrate and support Jewish covenant faithfulness, seeing Yeshua-faith in the power of the Holy Spirit as its perfect embodiment, and will partner with Torah-faithful Messianic Jews as one ekklesia. By being joined as one ekklesia with the Torah obedient Jewish Yeshua-believers, the Church becomes part of the Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:12-14), and therefore celebrates all of the God-given distinctives of Israel, including her Torah obedience. This position contrasts sharply with the denigration of Jewish Torah obedience so common in Christian thought and feeling. The Church joins with Israel without taking on her unique Torah responsibilities. This balance of unity and diversity is further highlighted in Ephesians 3:6, where Paul says “Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The terms “fellow heirs, fellow members, and fellow partakers” require another communal reality with whom the Gentiles are joined, Jewish Yeshua-believers living as part of wider Israel.

4. Messianic Jewish outreach to the wider Jewish community involves revealing the Presence of Yeshua amidst Jewish life rather than importing Him as an outsider or exporting Jewish Yeshua-believers to other communities. The Jewish Yeshua believers of the Newer Testament believed that in a mysterious manner the Messiah had been with Israel throughout its history (1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Ephesians 2:12). Because of this, they saw in all of Israel’s sacred institutions (e.g., the Temple, the holidays, the Jubilee year) signs of the Messiah’s presence, and proclaimed him to be the fulfillment of Judaism rather than its nullification. Though Jewish communal life has developed over the past two thousand years without explicit faith in Yeshua, we find him present there nevertheless, just as Joseph provided for his brothers who rejected him even before he revealed his identity to them.

5. Such outreach proclaims the Name of Jesus, not the neediness of Jews. Sometimes mission approaches to the Jewish people include the assumption or even declaration of the emptiness and inadequacy of Jewish religious practice and faith. In contrast, the apostolic motivation for outreach to Jewish people was driven by the realization that in Yeshua, the long awaited Messiah had come. The oft-quoted passage, “There is no other name given among mortals by which we must be saved,” comes in a context where Peter and John were seeking to lift up the name of Jesus rather than put down the Jewish people: “for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:12, 20). We would do well to imitate their example and lift up the name of Yeshua without denigrating the holy things already given to the Jewish people (see Romans 3:1-4; 9:1-5).


What is wrong with a focus on neediness?

a. It gravitates toward denigration - both historically and contemporaneously
b. It distorts the biblical record, misshaping theologizing
c. It misshapes the Christian soul, fostering anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism, and arrogance
d. It is pragmatically worthless in outreach to Jewish people

What are better motivations than neediness to motivate outreach to Jews?

a. “Our Father which art in heaven” - Sharing the relationship
b. “Hallowed be Thy Name” - Glorifying God for who He is and what He has done
c. “Thy kingdom come” - Hastening the consummation
d. “Thy will be done” – Obedience

6. The honor of God is enhanced, and His reign established, when His people honor the Messiah whom He sent. Newer Covenant texts such as Matthew 23:39, Acts 3:19-21, and Romans 11:12, 15, imply that Israel’s acceptance of Yeshua will inaugurate the definitive coming of God’s Kingdom, when God’s name will be perfectly sanctified (Matthew 6:9-10). Looking toward that day, we seek to model and advance honoring Him among our people, Israel.

7. This paradigm enables concerned Christians to be both deeply faithful to Christ and deeply respectful of the living Jewish tradition and the Jewish community. Paul Himself exemplified this respect when, toward the end of his life, standing before Herod Agrippa, he characterized Jewish piety in this manner: “they earnestly serve God night and day”(Acts 26:7). Sadly, this respect has not generally characterized standard Christian approaches to the Jewish people. Isn’t it about time that it did?

WEEK EIGHT: Questions, Answers, and Discussion on Role of Gentiles in Our Midst- PART ONE

Robert references Roger who asks his question about the church– “if this is such a great way of life, why doesn’t G-d call all the nations to this life? Isn’t this a case of dividing rightfully those laws which are universal as opposed to specific Jewish laws?

God has the right to give His laws to whosoever He will, and he has given the Torah as the inheritance of the descendants of Jacob. As to why God does not call all the nations to embrace the Torah way of life, that is really God’s concern. I suggest you read Romans 9, which deals with this question. But Robert, you are right that one must divide rightly between those laws which have universal applicability and those which are especially the province of Jews.

Dr Bruce Stokes has thought hard and long on such issues. He holds that Gentiles should “keep Torah” but always in a different manner than Jews, for the sake of maintaining and respecting the distinction between Jews and Gentiles.


Robert says further . . . regarding the Gentiles in our midst, I see this as a matter of gentiles having a tremendous responsibility in making Israel jealous (Romans 11) and in this way having a priestly call to support the Jewish people to fulfill their destiny. As far as Gentiles in the MJ movement, when a Gentile is in a Messianic Congregation, they live the life of the culture; celebrating the feasts and worshipping with the Jews. They have been grafted in and are now part of the New Covenant faith and are children of Abraham. Only those practices that entail explicitly professing being a Jew are not recommended to gentiles. I find this not so problematic when Gentiles find their identity in Yeshua and get passed the concern that they are second class citizens. Is there a higher place than being in Messiah? I think not!

I too have Gentiles in my congregation, great people. But I have a high hurdle for them to jump over—they must be people truly involved with the wider Jewish community, truly relating to Jewish people outside of the MJ movement. I believe that if the only Jews such Gentiles know are those in our congregations, they are not really relating to the Jewish community at all, and are by no means manifesting a call to the Jewish people—simply an attraction to Jewish stuff, for whatever reason.

One of the things that troubles me is that so many of our congregations have a large Gentile majority—and Jewish people use this fact to discredit us. How does this demographic reality manifest that Yeshua is the Messiah of the Jewish people who then remain rooted in Jewish life after coming to believe in Him? I think it makes our movement appear strange to the wider Jewish world, like a group of Japanese Chasidim might look. Something strange, but neither attractive to nor compelling for Jewish people. I believe our congregations usually appear strange to Jews, and, for some eyes, deceitful—we claim to be a Jewish movement for Yeshua, yet when they peek in our doors what do they see? You tell me!

It is inappropriate to use the grafting in metaphor for what goes on in our congregations. For Paul, Gentiles are grafted into the Olive Tree without Gentiles either becoming Jews or taking on Jewish life! Remember, he fought for the fact that Gentiles become fully children of Abraham through faith in Yeshua, but that they do NOT become Jews—otherwise he would have insisted they be circumcisedm as is the initiation rite of becoming Jews. Gentiles in Messiah are fully members of the people of God, and not second class citizens. But they are not therefore Jews, nor need they be. And there is a lot of confusion in our ranks over these matters. You are right that Gentiles should be kept from certain behaviors reserved for Jews, but you are smart enough and honest enough to admit that many Gentiles seek to live as uncircumcised Jews, and that our congregations are dominated by non Jewish faces and not a few people with strange and idiosyncratic views of what it means to follow Torah.

Frankly, I think our movement is, in many corners, a confused mess. This is not to critique the people involved, but it IS to critique our lack of foresight and slapdash approach to community formation.

And again, I have some great Gentiles who have attached themselves to my congregation—and not intermarried ones. I love them. I serve them. But I am worried. And it would be irresponsible for us to NOT worry. And I hold myself responsible to take responsible action—when I decide what that action must be. Meanwhile, the non-Jews in my congregation know how I feel about these things—and they realize there is a problem here.

I will not simply let the movement change, and let my congregation change simply because it either makes more people happy, makes less waves, or is the easier thing to do.

As for making Jews jealous, Mark Nanos suggests that what makes Jews jealous is not Gentiles, but Paul’s ministry to Gentiles. The Jewish community knew that in the latter, the gentiles would turn toward Israel’s God. Now here is Paul getting done what Israel thought was their own prerogative—and THAT makes them jealous.

At any rate, even if one accepts the more prevalent concept of Gentiles making Jews jealous by their coming to faith in Israel’s Messiah and through life in Him, is that not the role of the Church and not of the Messianic Jewish Movement? Or should we just call this the Messianic Movement and accept the fact that we are accomplishing very little if anything in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Remnant of Israel?

What will really make Jews jealous is large numbers of Messianic Jews getting more our of Torah living than the rest of the Jewish world does, because of Messiah Yeshua and the power of the Holy Spirit. Gentiles blowing shofars and doing Davidic Dancing does nothing to kindle jealousy in Aunt Minnie. And I think even a Gentile halakhically pure Messianic Judaism would still be confusing to Jews—it comes across as a boundary violation.

How does the increasing predominance of Gentiles in our midst impair the Messianic Jewish Movement’s faithfulness in being the Remnant of Israel?

What would be lost if the Messianic Jewish Movement became increasingly Gentile and Jews became an ever shrinking minority?

Why is it that Koreans can have Korean Churches, and Armenians, Armenian Churches, and Hong Kong born Chinese their own churches, separate from American Born Chinese or Mainland Born Chinese (all who have their own churches in America), but the Messianic Jewish Movement has to feel guilty and make apologies or appear racist unless we give equal status to Jews and Gentiles in every way?

What should be the criteria governing determining what Gentiles are appropriate for our congregations? And if we make those criteria simply believing in Yeshua and loving Jewish stuff, is it not clear that we will become permanently a movement with an increasingly Gentile majority?

These are BIG questions, and my major concern is my view that the MJ movement is in danger of becoming irrelevant to the responsibilities of the Messianic Jewish Remnant being who it should be and doing what it should do in these times of eschatological transition.

More later on this as well.

WEEK EIGHT: Questions, Answers, and Discussion on Faith and Good Deeds - PART ONE

Friends,

This is going to be SOME week of discussion. You guys are putting my feet to the fire with your excellent input. I will be logging in DAILY at least until Wednesday or Thursday to make some deposits.

Here is my first. I put another one up today as well, but check in daily. This discussion is HOT and extremely relevant.

BTW, this is NOT my last posting on this subject of the relationship between faith and good deeds.

Go to it!

Robert said...

In the lecture it was stated, “Doing the right thing has value even independent of the intent. If you feed a poor child even though you don’t have the warm fuzzy feelings, you are still doing a good thing. Deeds have dignity of their own.”
This sounds good on paper (so to speak), but how realistic is it to believe that someone who is not motivated by the love of G-d would even want to do a “good deed” such as feeding a hungry child. Does Isaiah 64:5 (“We have become like an unclean thing and all our virtues like a filthy rag”) have anything to do with this initial question? If doing a good deed doesn’t gain favor in G-d’s eyes then why do it since performing it with the wrong heart it is like a filthy rag? I see Isaiah 64:5, as Israel defiled with sin that even their pretensions to righteousness are vitiated by a basically self-seeking motive, rather than by supreme love of God (which alone can be the basis of true morality; compare to Deut 6:5) Does my question make sense?

Robert, your question makes sense, but there are non sequiturs in it, and it enshrines a very common false premise/ First of all, it would be nice to imagine that only people motivated by the love of God “would even want to do a “good deed” such as feeding a hungry child.” Do you really believe that only religious people care about humanity and human suffering? Let’s put it the other way: do you actually think that all who really believe in God involve themselves in relieving the suffering of others? I wish it were so, but there are plenty of believers who spend their time with the halleujahs and Davidic Dancing, but whose involvement in relieving the suffering of others is minimal at best. Similarly there are people who are not sure there is a God, who don’t give him a second thought, who know that right is right and that it is wrong to let people suffer and do nothing about it. Such people do great things.

Secondly, the “all our righteousness is as filthy rags” idea does NOT mean that righteous deeds are worthless unless situated in the right kind of faith. In the context, the Prophet is speaking of how Judah l is in a time of judgment—the Temple has been destroyed—and in this context, it is apparent to him that for some reason, Hashem is unimpressed with their good deeds—“all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” This does not means that good deeds are worthless, anymore than it means that evil deeds are immaterial. After all, it is Judah’s wicked deeds which have brought this upon them. No, tending the orphan, the fatherless and the widow is holy, right and good—whoever does it.

Let’s look at it this way: Does a Christian doing the wrong thing outweigh an atheist doing the right thing? You answer. If your answer is like mine, “Of course not,” then we must acknowledge that there is something in the deed itself that has relative weight. Come to think of it, Paul uses precisely this argument in Romans 2: 14 When Gentiles (and here he talking about pagans!) who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. . . . 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.”

Paul is clearly teaching here that pagans may do the right thing because of their consciences and because of the Law of God written on their hearts by the Creator God. Such deeds are GOOD deeds and trump the lives of those who have God’s law but don’t obey it.

Does this mean that people are saved by such deeds? No one is saying that. What I AM saying is that God prefers a person who does the right thing to a person who prides himself on the right kind of faith and does not do the right thing.

Also, Derek gave some excellent input to which you said:

. . . Maybe you missed my point. I was just expressing the importance of our motives behind our deeds, after all doesnt Hashem check our motives for all that we do?
Maybe the better question is - "How does our motive line up to the notion of doing the right thing independent of intent?"
After all Prov. 16:2 seems to emphasize Hashem checking our motive. A person may think nothing is wrong with what he does; outwardly it may seem innocent. But God knows his heart, whether the motives behind his actions are pure or not. The LORD judges people on the basis of why they act (Prov. 17:3; 21:2) because He sees human hearts ( Matt. 6:4, 8, 18)

Yes, Robert, God does judge motives. But to assume that only religious motives please him is a big jump. God does not dismiss the good deeds of people who really care about righteousness and mercy. He would on the other hand dismiss the deeds of someone who is doing what they do for deceitful reasons, such as someone treating someone well so as to only take advantage of them in the end.

Judaism cares about motives too—but again, I’d rather have a kind and caring atheist next door than an indifferent and self-involved Baptist. And God would see my point.

Week SEVEN – Talking about Mitzvah and Commandment

Shalom, My Friends,

This week, we will be concentrating on Mitzvah and Commandment, among other things. I will have more to say about this tomorrow. I am being visited by Dr. Mark Kinzer, and we have a group of crucial networking meetings concerning the future of MJTI, so I will be logging on not only today, but tomorrow and perhaps Tuesday to update your assignment. However, I wanted to get you started now.

Watching

Begin by looking at DVD’s 3.3 and 3.4 34 minutes.



Reading

Begin by reading Rothschild/Heschel pp. 155-197, which all have to do with Mitzvah. Please note that there is a disconnect between the syllabus sections named on the DVD's and our own Syllabus packet. The Section H named on the DVD's is not in our Packet, and the Section J named on the DVD's is our Section H. So DO use our Section H. In addition, use and read our Section I, at the appropriate time.

Doing

I encourage you to continue experimenting with Jewish prayer, and to share on the blog concerning your experiences. I promise you that each time you do liturgical prayer it is different, and sometimes you will be surprised by a sudden influx of insight, awareness, and companionship. Continue with the Shemoneh Esrei/Amidah especially, found on pages 99 through 119 in the Artscroll Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz) which all of you are supposed to have. As before, the context of that praying, which should be done standing, experiment with using these benedictions as a kind of outline or agenda for prayer—that is, in the midst of certain benedictions, insert your own prayers. And again, this is especially appropriate in the benedictions for healing, for the blessing of the year (that is, for provision and sustenance), as well as others. Again, report on the texture of the experience—what can you say about it that is worth sharing? I would ask that you make three contributions to the blog on these matters, as well as supplying the traditional three questions from your reading and the DVD’s, and interacting at least twice with each other by way of comments.

This week, we will be wading deep into the issue of Torah observance and its place in Messianic Judaism. Like I said, I will log on again within 24 hours to supplement what I am saying now . . . I will augment and edit the very posting.

One of the issues you will discover in this week’s DVD watching is the proposition that doing the right thing has value even independent of the intent. It is better if you have kavvanah, but even if you don’t, deeds have a dignity and priority of their own. “The world needs more than the secret holiness of individual inwardness.” Good deeds done without love may profit me nothing (1 Cor 13), but still bring benefit to the world.

This deals with the positive role of law in the life of the Jew. On the DVD, Roger will ask a question concerning “Where does this leave the Church?’ In other words, this mentality is so different from that of the Church, and this imperative to obey the Law, is foreign to the Church’s ethos (and rightly so), bringing us into the very big question—How are the obligations of Messianic Jews different from the obligations of believing Gentiles, even Gentiles in our congregations?

As you study and each craft three questions for me this week, as is our habit, consider such questions as well as what might be the implications of such an issues for how we conduct congregational life?

More later.

HERE’S THE MORE I PROMISED!

I thought it a good idea to stay on one theme this week, so we will stick to the issue of Torah and the place of Torah in Messianic Jewish life.

Please ADD to your watching, DVD 4.4 beginning about minute 26:20 (what goes before pertains to Kavvanah, and we will handle that later).

Read as well the two additional sections I am sending you by email attachment, both from Heshel. One on “Religious Behaviorism” and the other on “The Meaning of Observance.” (If you do the assigned reading in Heschel for this week, you will be reading the chapters upon which these hand-outs are based.

If you have trouble coming up with questions this week, I will accept instead your choosing quotations from Heschel that especially grab you together with your brief discussion of why you chose what you did. (I regard Heschel as the most quotable Jew since Yeshua!).

I am also throwing in DVD 5.4, which you should watch together with Section Q in your materials packet. It is not very demanding and watching this DVD now will help reduce the rush at the end. Although not related to our theme for this week, you will find it light and interesting.

Don’t forget to check your e-mail for the attachments I promised!

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers and Discussion - Part Three

Derek asked :

2 questions about prayer:

1. In the early days I used to think davvening meant the act of swaying during prayer. I now know better, but is there a name for the swaying?

2. I am curious about the rationale for swaying. I tell people it is a way to increase concentration, but I have always felt something else (though I've not heard anyone day it). I feel as though I am repeatedly bowing to Adonai. I enjoy this act of devotion. Is that an element of the swaying that anyone speaks of?



Authors are not agreed or certain about the etymology of “davvening.” One suggestion is that it is related to the LATIN “divinus.” However, as for the swaying, it is called “shuckling.” Two descriptions of its purpose come to mind from my reading: One is that it is a way of actualizing “let all my bones rejoice” and/or “Let all that is within me bless His Holy Name.” Another is that it has to do with shifting one’s center of gravity while praying—it helps with bodily comfort and longevity in the standing position. I think Jordan Lee Wagner of “The Syngaogue Survival Kit” is the author of the latter explanation.

As for Paul’s question concerning the definition of ‘holiness” and its relationship to “spirituality,” I was thinking of this while walking to the subway here in NYC where I am today finishing a three day visit with my oldest son. How’s this?” “Holiness is presenting oneself as a living sacrifice to Hashem in all ways always.” “Spirituality is the consideration, discussion, study, and pursuit of means toward that end.” Just as there were prescribed ways that different sacrifices were presented in the Older Testament, so the prescribed pathway of holiness differs for different people-groups. Particularly, the pathway mapped out for Israel is different (but overlapping) with that of the nations.

Of course, other communities would define holiness and spirituality differently, and generically, both terms could be otherwise defined. However, these are the definitions I am proposing for us and our context.

These definitions are in addition to those presented in the Extended Course Description and other documents, lectures, comments in this course. However, thanks Paul for the question. I like this current approach you evoked and would suggest to all of us, that as we devote ourselves to the study of ANY worthwhile pursuit, it is a good idea to from time to time update our definitions—it is a good exercise in assessing and coalescing thought.

robert said...
Robert

Q1-

In Sonsino’s book page 8, he says, “In many areas, Kabbalah has even reached the masses: In Tel Aviv, the Kabbalah Learning Center has a display in the central bus station.” I first want to clarify that I know little about Jewish Kabbalah and actually look forward towards learning more about this in R 532. My question is how open can our movement be to the Kabbalah when very few of our leaders know anything about it? Most MJ Rabbi’s that I have spoken to seem afraid of it (should they?) Christians seem to get their ideologies of Kabbalah from the media and usually say it’s demonic. The reports that I hear from those serving in Israel is that many young Israelis are drawn to this movement and the fruit of it is very crass, sinful and far from a respectable Judaism. America seems to have a “McDonalized” version of Kabbalah, so how is our Americanized Kabbalah different from that in Israel? I was told by a Chabad-Lubavitch that true Kabbalah is not really exposed to the public, but rather carried down orally Dor L’ Dor? 


Kabbalah is Jewish esoteric (off the beaten path, known only to the initiated, thus, secret) speculative theologizing about spiritual knowledge, power and creation. As such, it traverses concerns normally found in the area of magic—which also concerns the interfacing of knowledge and power. However, it is simplistic to simply say that kabbalah is Jewish magic. It would be like simply saying that a Christian interested in knowing more about God so he can experience more of the flow of God’s power is simply involved in Christian magic. It is hamfisted, overgeneralized thinking.

Still, there are many who relate to Kabbalah in a magical way—as a means of accessing and controlling spiritual power. These people are immature, wrong, and “cruising for a bruising”—apt to get into trouble.

In the more seasoned and responsible of Jewish circles, Kabbalah is an area of study reserved for those with a deep knowledge of, experience in, and devotion to the pathways of Torah holiness. It is an area that only the mature are allowed to investigate—persons whose character guarantees they are not seeking to play with fire.

As speculative theology, Kabbalah is useful as material to inform Messianic Jewish theological constructs, because it gives us Jewish ways rooted in Torah of speaking about the nature of God, Creation and Messiah. Mark Kinzer will be teaching on some of this in our courses of study.

But the kinds of things done at the Kabbalah Center or available on the bookshelves in popular bookstores should be avoided—they are pandering to people’s craving for spiritual secrets and access to power apart from deep moral and spiritual commitments appropriate to a Torah life—the latter must be the foundation for the study and assessment of Kabbalistic writings.

Robert’s 
Q2-

In Lecture 3.2 you stated, “We need to be careful not to restrict people who say – I really sensed G-d in a sunset… or a mother sensing God in a birth.” You then asked if this was to be rated 1st or 2nd rate, and that Providence is Hashem in the middle of ordinary circumstances. I certainly agree that we should not demean these experiences; I personally have had quite a few. But my question is, isn’t this type of “awe” similar to that of the charismatic movement? A common event in our congregation is to have a non-Jew with a Pentecostal background come in and say, “G-d is saying this, or I witnessed gold dust in my bedroom so forth and so on. Where do we draw the line to where experiencing G-d doesn’t become a “Woodstock” experience? It seems that the Reconstructionist perspective of, “enriching the individual emotionally and intellectually filling him/her with a sense of great awe,” is quite similar to the Charismatic experience?

Thanks for your question: What I was advocating was for us to not despise what is normally called “General revelation,” the kind of thing Paul speaks of in Romans one, of God’s eternal power and deity being clearly perceived in the things he has made. When a woman wonders at the birth process, or someone wonders at a sunset or the beauty of music, this is general revelation—and it is a genuine pathway to knowledge. It is general revelation—that kind which is available to everyone—through ordinary experiences. The kinds of charismatic/Pentecostal testimonies you mention (people claiming to have found gold dust in their room, seeing Jesus in the blender, ete.) are NOT this. Here people are claiming special revelation through out of the ordinary experiences, and in some manner, in my view, are often seeking to be regarded as special for having had such “revelations.” For the most part this is to spirituality what cotton candy is to nutrition. It is not healthy and ought not to be merchandised in our congregations.

Finally, for today, I think some of our comments here are based on a misunderstanding of Roz Kinzer’s position on charismatic experience. She very much values the charismatic experiences she had in her formative years, and we should not disparage such either. Thesse matters warrant further discussion—and more thought from me before I interact with your questions. Hopefully, tomorrow.

Until then—shalom,

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers, Discussion - Part Two

john said...
And now for a third question:

I was really touched by something on the DVD's that buzzed around my head for several days.It's a new paradigm shift type of idea,that forces me to re-think on prayer..
The phrase was something like this:
" when we decide to bring forth something to G-d that we want him to deal with,really want him to change,,G-d is right there..ready to start...come on let's get started...let's deal with it"
This is really important because it implies that G-D acts rapidly,is just waiting for us to ask his help,etc
This concept would change things for me if I really believed it! Itwould mean that I could now (without experiencing it)know that G-D was working interiorly in me!
What do we say to people/to ourselves,when year after year we don't see any results in our interior lives(same sins/failings)?
I chanced upon the thought that this may be where MITZVOT may have it's role,with observance propelling us further along the "derech" when no visible signs of change are in evidence at all.

I am not sure of the statement to which you are referring, John, but in general I agree with the sentiment. There is an old Christian hymn that captures the ethos for me. It says, “I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew, he moved my hear to seek him seeking me.” God is infinite, God is good, and God is committed to His people. His infinitude should remind us that his resources are never strained nor exhausted. This does not mean that things always go well for us. No. And no one can answer truly and satisfactorily why answers don’t seem to come when things are worst and God’s people are best.

Nevertheless, when we have an impulse to move in the right direction, say, in the direction of repentance, we are not irrational in assuming that God is for us in that situation, indeed, that he was the unseen and unbidden Party who moved us to move. The parable of the Prodigal Son touches on this somewhat, we see that the father in the story is already on the lookout for his son when his son returns.

As for remaining on “the derech even when no visible signs of change are in evidence at all,” the reason for remaining on the derech is not results: rather it is the glorification of God. One is reminded of the story of the Daniel’s three friends who told Nebuchadnezzar, “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up" (Daniel 3). The fact is, Daniel’s friends were committed to serve and honor God deliverance or no deliverance. A life of obedience can only be sustained with this mindset, because life has more than enough disappointments in it to cause us to abandon hope, faith and love if we make it contingent upon “results.”

john said...
As for my experiences with the Siddur and the AMIDAH this week (three days):

I experimented with several ways of reciting the blessings:

I started praying the blessing slowly,as I would read any prayer book,(Christian/Jewish) and by the time I got to the Malkhut beit David my mind was wandering.
I was feeling very guilty because all those fine people on the DVD's were praising the "texture" of the siddur,etc..and I was finding it a bit dry!!

I tried saying the blessings to myself..in my head ,instead of out loud..and it was certainly worse...

Then I remembered a CD I had heard of a lute player who had recorded the "song of songs" (Jean David,Algerian Jew).The disc was mostly spoken..but spoken with the Hebrew recited really really slowly...
This "opened up" the Siddur and the AMIDAH for me..The SELICHAH is so beautiful in this way..The refuah takes on new life(I even entered up chanting this to an improvised simply melody!!)
I felt strangely linked to all those in my immediate family, no longer here on earth,who recited these same blessings...
I'm more sure than ever that authentic Jewish Messianic worship must drink deeply from these streams...But how?? It's so different from what people want!!

Ah, John, what a wonderful mystical brother you are: I have found a kinsmen according to my own flesh! I am so very delighted that you discovered that the way in which we use the siddur has great affect on “what we get out of it.” I too discovered some time ago that chanting parts of the text to extemporaneous memories (which Hasidim calls “niggunim”) increased my kavvanah and joy. And I too experienced that aching, awe-filled and mysterious sense of linkage to my ancestors and to our people that comes from really connecting to the prayers and to the God of whom they speak. It is hard to describe and impossible to forget.

As for how to help Messianic Judaism drink from these wells, I have already discussed the need for instruction. In addition, of course, we ourselves need to become consistent practitioners, and to bring others along, one by one, until we have a little community of prayer. Frankly, this kind of commitment and change is sometimes more easily “felt than tell’t,” people catch a whiff by participating. Then we must become or discover masters who will bring them along. But more remains to be said on this important matter.


As for Birkat Ha-minim,” and the cursing of slanderers, I pray this prayer against those people within the ranks of Jewish community whose agendas are aimed against the community’s welfare. I do not think this is wrong---it is like the imprecator psalms of David.

nathaniel said...
“Is it better to speed through the rest of the Amidah (in a sense, just finishing the motion) when we run out of time, vs just putting the siddur down and?”

The custom of our people is that above all in the Amidah, one should not allow interruptions, because this is the time when we are most aware of standing before the King of Kings, Blessed be He. I think this guideline is most appropriate, and one we should endeavor to follow, because it guards and supports our awareness of the importance of this time before God. It is, traditionally, the heart of our priestly ‘sacrifice of prayer,” and to allow it to be interrupted is to infer that something more important has come up. Obviously, we ought to avoid that!

As previously mentioned in the syllabus materials, there are gradations of importance in the siddur prayers—some parts that may be left out if the circumstances require it. At the heart of the service, the most non-negotiables are the Amidah and the Shema. If absolutely necessary one may restrict the Shema to just the three paragraphs without the blessings before and after, or even just the first paragraph (Plus, of course, in both cases, the initial declaration—Shema Yisrael. . . etc). Some siddurs have an abbreviated Amidah as well—one paragraph that summarizes all of the concepts. I will see if it is included in Artscroll and get back to you.

In responding to Robert, thank you for your comments on the Amidah’s three steps forward [which should be matched by three steps backward at the end, when we say “Oseh Shalom Bimromav . . . ]. I am delighted you got so much out of it.

Jewish prayer, under the influence of Hasidism especially, is keenly aware that we pray with our whole being—Body, Soul, Spirit, and that the body is to be included in the act. Postures are important, etc. Of course one can “get carried away” as the earlier Hasidim did, opening themselves up to harsh criticism for what was deemed their intemperate exhibitionism. Nevertheless, especially when in private prayer, bring your body into it: “Let ALL that is within me bless His Holy Name.”

Robert’s sensitivity to the repentance portions of our service {the Tachanun) is also appreciated—the pathway of repentance is something we should walk every day. The habit of a Cheshbon Nefesh is excellent toward that end: taking a personal moral/spiritual inventory. Some Hasidim are in the habit of doing so daily.

To conclude today’s posting, I am pasting in, in its entirety, a teaching I did for my people on the Cheshbon Nefesh. See if it helps you all.

And we have much more to do. Such GREAT questions! Keep it up, folks!

TAKING A SPIRITUAL INVENTORY AND LEARNING FROM IT:
"CHESHBON HANEFESH"
Adapted and expanded from material found on the Web at http://www.cckollel.org/html/heritage/questions/question45.shtml

Without a plan, it is hard to show G-d that you are seriously committed to change in the future. The Hebrew word for this evaluation is Cheshbon haNefesh which means "a spiritual accounting." The first step in making a plan is to determine goals and how to implement them. We have two suggested systems to try.

SETTING LIFETIME GOALS
What are your lifetime goals? It is often difficult to get perspective on this question, so try asking yourself in the following way: "At my funeral what is it that I want people to say about me? What kinds of values, relationships, accomplishments would I want to come readily to their minds as characteristic of the life I have led?"

Another exercise. Take a new sheet of paper and write down another question: "If I knew I only had one year to live, how would I spend my time?" Don't get lost in thinking TOO MUCH-just write--and don't censor yourself. Brainstorm. Even write down those things which seem impossible or foolish. Just write.

Now, spend some time refining your lists, in a way that will identify your THREE MOST IMPORTANT GOALS. Then write these three in order of priority. You have now finished a "Lifetime Goals Statement." After you finish, ask yourself, "Why can't I make this a reality?" Brainstorm different ways of overcoming those obstacles that prevent you from getting where you want to go.

A BUSINESS APPROACH
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (17th century) explains in his classic work on Jewish ethics, Path of the Just: "A person should observe all his actions and watch over all his ways so as not to perpetuate a bad trait, let alone a sin or a crime. A person needs to carefully examine his ways and weigh them daily-just as a successful businessperson constantly evaluates all his undertakings so that nothing goes wrong. A person should set aside definite times and hours for this evaluation so that it isn't performed haphazardly, but rather is conducted with the greatest regularity... for it yields rich returns. Every company has a plan with directions, dates and deadlines for each step in their future. Shouldn't we have one as well?"
In order to make such plans, we need to first evaluate past performance.

TAKING AN INVENTORY OF YOUR LIFE
Try the following exercise: Write out a list of all the major areas of your life. These will be the specific areas that you will monitor on a regular basis - either daily, weekly or monthly. For each category, identify specific questions that cut to the core of the issue. Try to be as comprehensive as you can. Here are some possible areas you might choose:
1.Relationships-Have I spent enough quality time with people I care about? Have I shown proper patience, compassion and respect toward co-workers, friends-and strangers? Have I looked for virtues in others? Have I listened attentively to others? Have I taken joy in the success and accomplishments of others?
2.Spirituality-Have I sought a pattern of spiritual discipline that works for me: attainable, sustainable and renewing of my best self? Do I know G-d more deeply or as deeply as a year ago? Why? Why not? Have I invested my gifts and time in the well-being of others? Of my congregation?
3.Character development-Am I aware of times when I have been arrogant, sarcastic or critical? Have I treated time like my most precious commodity or do I spend it without much thought? Have I made righteous choices this past year in the area of my sex life? My choices of friends?
4.Scripture Study-Have I set aside specific times daily for Scripture study? Have I progressed in my knowledge the Scriptures and in my acquaintance with books which solidly build my character and knowledge of spiritual things?
5.Career-Have I selected a career that satisfies my innate needs for meaning and accomplishment? Have I created a work environment free of jealousy, gossip, and immodest behavior?
6.Global and Community Concerns-Have I been actively involved in contributing to the improvement of my community? Have I been idealistic about the possibility of tikkun olam--repairing the world? Have I been engaged in communicating this ideal to others? Do my choices demonstrate that I have felt moved by the plight of others who are estranged from Jewish life and from the more abundant life Yeshua offers?
7.Health-Have I been eating well and exercising regularly? Have I availed myself of relevant new medical information?
8.Financial-Have I exercised some sort of a plan for handling unforeseen expenses? Have I beenI quick to pay off debts? Have I been giving tzedakkah and been giving to my congregation according to plan or has it been on the basis of impulse?
Now that you have some idea of how you have been doing, let's close with some concrete ideas for improving your life in just one area, that of Spirituality: Not all of the ideas work equally well for everyone. Choose the ones that work best for you!

DEVELOPING AND STRENGTHENING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH G-D
1. HAVE A TIME DAILY TO RELATE TO G-D IN PRAYER IN YOUR OWN WORDS
a. It is a Jewish custom to speak to G-d directly before going to sleep. This is a perfect time to reflect and introspect on your relationship to G-d, and to evaluate if you are on target in fulfilling your purpose in life.
b. You might want to learn about the practice of "Hitbodedut--voluntary self-seclusion" which involves having an appointment each day where you pour out your heart to G-d and work on your life in His presence. Rabbi Dauermann has materials on this practice.
2. WRITE YOUR OWN PRAYERS
Choose an area that you really want to improve in and are motivated to pray for. Then sit down and write out a prayer that will inspire you to grow. For instance, you can ask G-d for the strength to study Torah with more concentration. Or for the opportunity to perform more acts of human kindness. Or for assistance in not speaking Loshon Hora (gossip). Write a list of things to thank G-d for.
3. CONSIDER MAKING IT A PROJECT TO LEARN HOW THE SIDDUR CAN REALLY CATALYZE YOUR LIFE OF PRAYER
a. The quality of the experience of liturgical prayer is directly proportional to the understanding of the prayers. The Siddur is certainly deep. It constitutes a major compendium of ideas about the world, about G-d, about G-d's will for Israel and the nations, and can serve as an index for learning many of the fundamentals of our faith. Have you put yourself on a growth curve to begin incorporating these thousands of years of prayer wisdom into your own life?
b. Why not make it a point to attend Rabbi Dauermann's Workshop on Jewish prayer next week?
c. Make it a point to find out how praying with the help of the siddur in the morning can increase the "kedusha factor (active holiness)" in your daily life, while strengthening you daily for the struggles all of us face.
d. Learn from Rabbi Dauermann about the "Ladder of Practice" which takes you from the easiest to the most challenging practices of Jewish prayer life.
4. CONSIDER MAKING IT A PROJECT TO STUDY THE BIBLE MORE CONSISTENTLY AND REWARDINGLY IN THE YEAR TO COME
a. Why not consider committing to becoming involved in the Bet Midrash which is beginning on January 12?
b. Begin now to prayerfully look for a "chevruta" a "study buddy" with whom you will learn together in the year to come, and with whom you can be mutually accountable.

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers, Discussion - Part One

Friends,

Lotz of goodies in your thoughts and responses last week. Here's the first installment on my interaction with you. I am eager to get into our interaction about this.

Stuart
paul said...
On inserting my own prayers during the Amidah:

I realize I may be jumping the gun here, but I have been doing this on and off for some time. When I began this, I used to offer my own prayers at the end of the Amidah and before Tachanun. Then, where the context was appropriate in the Amidah, I added my own prayers as those may have been. I have since arrived at a confluence of the two. In keeping with tradition, there are certain parts where personal petitions are permitted, of course in traditional form. And where my prayers could be offered here, I would do so. For those that did not fall into being offered within the Amidah in accordance with tradition, at least as I understand it, I would add those petitions after the Amidah, before taking three steps forward.
April 1, 2007 6:29 PM


paul said...
Paul has two questions as to the form of the questions to post on the blog this week:

Why is this week the same as every other week? Why, on this week, don't we get to ask four questions?

Okay, I really don't want to take on developing four questions but I couldn't resist.
April 1, 2007 6:31 PM


paul said...
Addendum to the prayer comment:

I realized that I really didn't share the impact. Personally, I can't say that my prayers in this format are any more effective than previously. Nor can I say that they are any less effective. Candidly, I have not found any realistic means to measure the effectiveness of prayer at all. So I offer them in faith. And in that faith, because these petitions are offered at the time I am offering one of the three or four daily sacrifices to Hashem prescribed in Torah, and, as such, represents the offering itself, I believe that these petitions offered at these times are pleasing and acceptable to Hashem. Again, I have no evidence of this. What is more, now that I am having to write this down, I realize that I need to review Leviticus to see how this fits within the rubric of the sacrificial offerings. But that is my present belief.
April 1, 2007 6:42 PM



stuart dauermann said...
Traditionally, one of the places where personal petitions are offered is during the benediction "Sh'ma Kolenu." Also, names are inserted during the blessing for a complete hearling IRefuah Sh'lemah). However, I imagine there are many who do as I do, intermingling their prayers with the statuory prayers, so that one's prayers become a sort of dialogue with the siddur, and, of course, always, a dialogue with Hashem. A

A Happy Passover to all of you. And more question . . .

On all other weeks, some people do not dip into this blog even once. On this week, why not twice?

Stuart
April 2, 2007 1:48 PM



stuart dauermann said...
Paul, 

On the interrelationship of levitical sacrifices and traditional prayer, Allen Singer, Mark Kinzer's associate at Congregation Zerah Avraham, Ann Arbor, has developed some sort of teaching materials. 

He is a sensible and thorough student. I would suggest you contact him and ask him if there is anything he can send you on the matter, 

Stuart
April 2, 2007 1:51 PM


nathaniel said...
I am not very experienced with the Siddur, so some of this was very new to me. Having said that, this did not feel foreign, and was overall a good experience.

What was most meaningful to me is the way the Siddur helped me to direct my prayers, as I went through certain benedictions, I was lead to pray for certain things and or people, so their was a good amount of focus as I went along.
April 4, 2007 6:11 AM

Thanks for your comment Nathaniel. Your comment is of course true. What we may sometimes miss is the communal benefit of siddur prayer. Just last week, a protégé of mine, Jon, asked if I wanted to go to the local Conservative Synagogue for end of the Passover services (at 9:00 AM on Tuesday). I said, “Certainly!” and went. They were using a siddur I had not used before, but of course almost all of the prayers were well-known to me, as they are the same prayers I use in my own prayer life and at my congregation. There was a sense of unity between myself and these dear people, and indeed with all of praying Israel throughout time. It is a holy thing—not an idea, but a reality, an experience. I am reminded of the late 1970’s when I was still working with Jews for Jesus, and, on a missionary trip, paid a visit to a synagogue in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Even though I was not at all as active in Jewish life then, as now, I remember being moved as I walked in, saw that some men had hung their Bowler hats on a hook when they came in, very different from what I had experienced in Brooklyn as a child, Yet, the melodies they sang were the same I had grown up with. Again, the unity of the people of Israel.

This brings us to the a broader issue: in what ways have our Messianic Jewish theological understandings, service orders, and ecclesiological assumptions evidenced a disregard or even a contempt for the unity of the people of Israel, despite whatever missionary rhetoric we learned to the contrary?

The siddur then is far more than a guide to personal prayer: it is meeting place with God, with our people, and with ourselves as Jews. And, as you will find after reading it regularly, adopting a siddur-based prayer practice deeply shapes one’s theology.

john said...
Here are my three questions for this week on prayer:

I was thinking how we are going to present liturgical forms of prayer as in the Siddur to Jewish people who are unacquainted with it,who are Ba'al Teshuvah (newly observant) or who have come out from christian charasmatic/pentecostalist types of settings,or who may come to Messianic synagogues which closely resemble orthodox and conservative synagogues
.

The task for us is the same as it is for many mainstream Jewish institutions, really. About two years ago I heard a Cantor from a prominent Los Angeles synagogue say that years ago you, one’s comments to one’s flock were concerning “How” to do this or that prayer. Now the task is to say “Why.” Mainstream synagogues are having trouble “selling” Jewish prayer too. And their solutions are very much the same as we must implement. We need qualified educators, we need groups that model how things are done, we need well-prepared training/educational materials, almost always borrowed from the wider Jewish community. And we need wisdom, humility, and sanity in implementing things—a kind of sanctified, patient gradualism, for example. Too many in our movement teach Jewish prayer and Jewish life like an amulet, or like some elite holy culture. There is nothing living, sane, patient about it. Mature religious Jews are capable of far more tolerance and patience than are some of us. We need to bring our people along, and to start from where they are. We need to not only implement training programs that explain not only how but also why; we also need to have communal contexts where such prayer has a natural place. We don’t have that now: what we have is an attempt to have a hyper-intense experience once a week, which leads to a lot of straining and aritificality, if you ask me.

We need to develop knowledgeable and intensely human praying communities that know they are not there yet, but are helping each other to grow toward a certain maturity in Messianic Jewish liturgical prayer.
As for developing Jewish prayer for Jewish believers cut off from the wider community, I am not sure that can be done. Jewish life is intrinsically communal. It is as artificial to pursue Jewish life in isolation from Jewish community, as it is to try and learn Japanese language, life and culture from books and recordings, without spending time with the Japanese people in their own contexts. This would be artifical, sterile and weird: and so with learning of Judaism and its practice: it must be among Jews, with Jews, and as Jews.


You say, “And then there's all the rigidity that some of our synagogues (Traditional)inject into it:¨


I don’t know what you mean by “our synagogues.” Those of Judaism as a whole? Or MJ synagogues. Although some congregations and segments of the wider Jewish world are insular and difficult to get in step with, and, like the Amish, do not provide an invitation and program for joining, in the main, modern Jewish congregations today are conscious of the need to make themselves user-friendly, and masterful at bringing people along. They know that today’s Jews are not knowledgable, and they are doing all then can to win such Jews and bring them along. We must learn from them!

If the critique is of some MJ congregations, then the problem is that neophytes and converts tend to be absolutist and rigid—it is the people at home in the culture who better know how to breathe with it.

Yes, there are some congregations that “go light speed,” and I have been as frustrated about this as anyone. But even there, some communities compensate: light speed davvvening on week-days, and a learrner’s minyan also available on shabbat. Both we and they must learn not to simply leave people behind. Of course this should never been dummying down Judaism, but rather being winsome, patient, skillful, and expert in bringing people along at whatever pace they can manage. You speak of an introduction for beginners—that is certainly in the right direction. I don’t think I agree that the MOST important thing about Jewish prayer is its first person plural language, although that is instructive. I do like and agree with the tenor of your comments here about prayer. I know from experience that the repetition of phrases, both encountering them over and over again in the liturgy, and meditating on them through repetition during the day, is not like Eastern Mysticism provided one does not become mindless in the enterprise—it is meditation with ever deepening understanding.

Your reference to Rabbi Steinsaltz is appreciated as well. He is deeply penetrated by Hasidism, and his call for freedom and innovation in prayer should not surprise us. As for people learning to find God in the process, I teach this to my people regularly at Ahavat Zion, often commenting on moments and insights in the siddur text, and the depth of worship and awareness they embody—it is as people learn to get into the text,, and the text into them, that they encounter God—not by contrivance or gimmick, but because he is glorified there. That is my conviction.


john said...
My second question follows from various Jewish books I read recently on prayer(Olitsky+ Judson,Kugel,Herschel;etc)
Most of these will somewhere along the line talk about the "sacrifice of prayer"
As I understand it ,this would seem to imply Avodat Halev(service of the heart)..the "dry times",perhaps the times drenched in doubt and despair,etc...when prayer is impossible..un-rewarding...unanswered?

As for “the sacrifice of prayer,” the phrase does not refer to “the sacrificial difficulty of praying when time are tough and dry.” Rather, the term refers to seeing our prayers (liturgical and otherwise), our praises, as our offering to God—as a means of giving him the glory due His name. And, of course, it is a sacrifice we offer as well when we are not feeling much in the process, just as, I am sure, when the Temple stood, there were priests and Levites who had head-colds, had had fights with their wives, were generally depressed, but still participated earnestly and carefully in the offering of animal sacrifices. So the term “sacrifice””does not mean “my noble struggle to give God what he demands/deserves even when I don’t feel like it, but rather, the sacrifice of prayer is the offering I offer to God in prayer—the term “sacrifice” describes the action, not my painful, noble struggle.