Aug. 23, 2022

Jews and Christians Learning to Relate: Common Misunderstandings

Jews and Christians Learning to Relate: Common Misunderstandings
The player is loading ...
Out of Zion with Susan Michael

Anyone involved in Jewish-Christian relations will encounter one of a number of common misunderstandings held by those in one faith about the other. Listen in on this week’s conversation between an Evangelical Christian and an Orthodox Jew as they discuss a number of these issues and share how each group views them differently. An honest conversation like this one can replace misunderstandings with understanding and result in genuine friendship.

🔔 Subscribe for more timely Israel Answers: https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofZion/?sub_confirmation=1

Show Links:

Previous Episode with Jonathan Feldstein’s Story https://youtu.be/Cl7j2Qb3mp4

Articles by Susan Michael about Jewish-Christian Relations Part 1: Introduction https://icejusa.org/2022/06/14/jews-and-christians-learning-to-relate-part-1-the-return-of-christianity-to-its-jewish-roots-2/

Part 2: From Holocaust to Today https://icejusa.org/2022/06/21/jews-and-christians-learning-to-relate-part-2-since-the-holocaust/

Part 3: Advice from the Pioneers https://icejusa.org/2022/07/05/jews-and-christians-learning-to-relate-part-3-advice-from-pioneers/

Support Israel Today: https://icejusa.org/donate Sign up for our Israel Tour Interest List - https://icejusa.org/outofzion-tour

Visit our educational website: http://www.israelanswers.com

Please partner with Susan to make this type of educational resource available to others, as the prophet Isaiah envisioned: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). Donate now - https://icejusa.org/support-israel-1/

Sign up for emails about upcoming shows: http://www.outofzionshow.com More info on Susan Michael: http://www.icejusa.org/susans-blog http://www.icejusa.org http://www.instagram.com/outofzion_icej/ http://www.facebook.com/susanmichaelicej/about/

Jews and Christians Learning to Relate: Common Misunderstandings (Out of Zion Show with Susan Michael Episode #138)

Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,500
Well, as we began to wrap up our series on Jews and Christians learning to relate, we

2
00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:13,140
wanted to have a discussion today about some of the most common misunderstandings between

3
00:00:13,140 --> 00:00:14,940
the two communities.

4
00:00:14,940 --> 00:00:15,940
So stay with us.

5
00:00:15,940 --> 00:00:18,460
We'll be right back.

6
00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:23,880
Welcome to the Israel Answers series, Connecting Israel, the Bible, and You.

7
00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,500
Join Susan Michael as she explores timely issues and current events from a scriptural

8
00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:33,100
perspective to equip the Christian world with a balanced and biblical response.

9
00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:37,220
Be sure to subscribe for future episodes, which will ignite your faith and bring the

10
00:00:37,220 --> 00:00:39,660
Bible to life in your everyday world.

11
00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:46,620
Now, let's join Susan with your Israel Answers.

12
00:00:46,620 --> 00:00:51,300
Well I hope you've been enjoying our series on Jews and Christians learning to relate.

13
00:00:51,300 --> 00:00:58,260
And as we have interviewed a number of pioneers, and one of those pioneers was Jonathan Feldstein,

14
00:00:58,260 --> 00:01:03,780
who is the founder and president of the Genesis 1-2-3 Foundation.

15
00:01:03,780 --> 00:01:10,540
We had a really interesting conversation as he shared his story, decades of Jewish-Christian

16
00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:17,300
relations coming from the perspective of an Orthodox Jew who lives in Israel.

17
00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:22,620
And if you did not get to hear that interview, we're going to link to it in today's show

18
00:01:22,620 --> 00:01:27,220
notes so that you can get to know more about him and his story.

19
00:01:27,220 --> 00:01:32,300
But as I began to plan for the wrap-up of this series, I thought I want to have Jonathan

20
00:01:32,300 --> 00:01:39,380
back so that we can just have an informal conversation talking about some of the common

21
00:01:39,380 --> 00:01:44,060
misunderstandings that we've all alluded to in our stories.

22
00:01:44,060 --> 00:01:48,100
The various pioneers have alluded to these things.

23
00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:52,620
But I thought it might be helpful for us to talk about them a little bit more in depth.

24
00:01:52,620 --> 00:01:58,860
And we have some misunderstandings on the Jewish side, and we have some misunderstandings on

25
00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:03,140
the Jewish side, the Christian side and the Jewish side.

26
00:02:03,140 --> 00:02:07,740
So Jonathan, I want to welcome you back to the Out of Zion podcast.

27
00:02:07,740 --> 00:02:12,540
And thank you for taking time out of your day to have this conversation with us.

28
00:02:12,540 --> 00:02:18,100
Always a pleasure, A, to have conversations like this and B, even more so to do it with

29
00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:19,100
you, Susan.

30
00:02:19,100 --> 00:02:20,100
Thank you.

31
00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:21,100
Thank you.

32
00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:22,220
Thank you so much.

33
00:02:22,220 --> 00:02:28,100
So I'm going to start with a common misunderstanding that we encounter.

34
00:02:28,100 --> 00:02:30,940
And then I'll let you bring up one, Jonathan.

35
00:02:30,940 --> 00:02:34,780
I won't just go back and forth and see where we go with this.

36
00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:41,940
So I know that one of the common misunderstandings that I had when I first went to Israel many,

37
00:02:41,940 --> 00:02:52,140
many, many years ago as a young woman was not understanding that Judaism is a vibrant,

38
00:02:52,140 --> 00:02:53,700
faith.

39
00:02:53,700 --> 00:03:03,220
And in a lot of our preaching and teaching in churches, we sort of like to just oppose

40
00:03:03,220 --> 00:03:07,140
Christianity to Judaism and the Old Testament to the new.

41
00:03:07,140 --> 00:03:13,940
And we bring up these comparisons, and it's sort of like, well, Judaism is about legalism

42
00:03:13,940 --> 00:03:15,020
and the law.

43
00:03:15,020 --> 00:03:18,500
And so it's a dead religion.

44
00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:24,500
Because Christianity is more about grace and forgiveness and it's more alive.

45
00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:32,940
And when I went to Israel, I realized how that Judaism is very much an alive faith.

46
00:03:32,940 --> 00:03:42,500
And there are really very sincere believers with a very, very sincere and active relationship

47
00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:44,780
with the God of the Jewish people.

48
00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:53,220
And so I see that as something I'm often addressing and teaching that no Judaism and what we see

49
00:03:53,220 --> 00:04:00,740
in the Old Testament is just as much about love and forgiveness and mercy and grace.

50
00:04:00,740 --> 00:04:02,340
It's built into the law.

51
00:04:02,340 --> 00:04:07,420
It's built into everything that God established in the Old Testament.

52
00:04:07,420 --> 00:04:11,780
And we do see it also in the New Testament, but it's in both.

53
00:04:11,780 --> 00:04:15,660
It's the same God, the same character.

54
00:04:15,660 --> 00:04:20,380
And so what would you like to add to that, Jonathan?

55
00:04:20,380 --> 00:04:22,420
Well, first of all, you're right.

56
00:04:22,420 --> 00:04:27,340
And people who do, who don't, it's perfect that we're speaking about misunderstandings

57
00:04:27,340 --> 00:04:32,700
because misunderstandings can be interpreted as a difference or just a lack of understanding.

58
00:04:32,700 --> 00:04:37,380
And there is a lack of understanding because why would you know when you are growing up

59
00:04:37,380 --> 00:04:44,140
unless you're completely engrossed with Jews and Judaism or myself?

60
00:04:44,140 --> 00:04:46,780
I grow up in New Jersey.

61
00:04:46,780 --> 00:04:51,940
Why would I know much about Christians and Christianity unless I'm having conversations

62
00:04:51,940 --> 00:04:56,740
like we are having now and that you and I have been blessed throughout the last decades

63
00:04:56,740 --> 00:04:57,740
to be able to have?

64
00:04:57,740 --> 00:05:03,820
So sure, it's very easy to look at from a Christian perspective and think that Jews

65
00:05:03,820 --> 00:05:06,460
and Judaism is very legalistic.

66
00:05:06,460 --> 00:05:13,660
Well, it is, but what a lot of Christians don't understand is that it's through that,

67
00:05:13,660 --> 00:05:16,580
first of all, that's preserved us as a people.

68
00:05:16,580 --> 00:05:23,260
But second of all, all of these legalisms, at least how I look at it, how I experience

69
00:05:23,260 --> 00:05:26,420
it in my life, connect me deeper with God.

70
00:05:26,420 --> 00:05:34,500
So when we speak about Shabbat, a lot of Christians will understand that Shabbat is

71
00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:36,380
the day that we don't work.

72
00:05:36,380 --> 00:05:37,380
But what does that mean?

73
00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:38,900
And I'm not going to go into that right now.

74
00:05:38,900 --> 00:05:41,020
We can have that conversation another time.

75
00:05:41,020 --> 00:05:43,460
But every little time, oh, here's a great story.

76
00:05:43,460 --> 00:05:44,980
I don't know if I ever shared it with you.

77
00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:50,180
When I had a fire in my house a few years ago on a Friday night, it was going through

78
00:05:50,180 --> 00:05:56,980
my mind about how to deal with the fire on Shabbat.

79
00:05:56,980 --> 00:06:02,820
And of course, at the moment, I was concerned about protecting my family, but I was doing

80
00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:09,260
so through my relationship with God, through how God, how we interpret that.

81
00:06:09,260 --> 00:06:15,780
So yeah, unless you have an opportunity to come to Israel, to really experience Israel,

82
00:06:15,780 --> 00:06:21,900
Israeli life, or do Shabbat in a community overseas and get to know, which is something

83
00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:26,860
we spoke about last time, get to know Jews and the Jewish culture.

84
00:06:26,860 --> 00:06:29,900
It's legitimate to think that we're only legalistic.

85
00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:35,260
But then, of course, I know some Christians, many Christians, in fact, will say, well,

86
00:06:35,260 --> 00:06:36,660
they're not under the law.

87
00:06:36,660 --> 00:06:37,660
Okay, great.

88
00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:40,540
Well, are they going around committing adultery?

89
00:06:40,540 --> 00:06:45,620
Are they going around murdering people, not honoring their parents and taking God's name

90
00:06:45,620 --> 00:06:46,620
in vain?

91
00:06:46,620 --> 00:06:47,860
Also, no.

92
00:06:47,860 --> 00:06:54,820
And these are things that we have to kind of square the circle as far as how we understand

93
00:06:54,820 --> 00:06:56,860
what that legalism is about.

94
00:06:56,860 --> 00:06:58,620
But no, Judaism is much, much more.

95
00:06:58,620 --> 00:07:03,420
And it's so wonderful you understand that and so wonderful that you help other people

96
00:07:03,420 --> 00:07:04,420
understand that.

97
00:07:04,420 --> 00:07:09,900
Well, I know one of the things that I realized was the role of the law.

98
00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:17,020
So in a lot of Christian teaching, the laws look down upon as legalistic, and we're not

99
00:07:17,020 --> 00:07:18,300
under that.

100
00:07:18,300 --> 00:07:24,940
And yet the law, the Jewish people see it as a gift that was given to them and that

101
00:07:24,940 --> 00:07:30,460
they take their responsibility very seriously to obey the law.

102
00:07:30,460 --> 00:07:37,100
And therefore, the whole idea of building a fence around the law, so if it says don't

103
00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:40,820
work on the Sabbath, fine and good, but what does that mean?

104
00:07:40,820 --> 00:07:44,620
And that's where the rabbis began to interpret, well, what does it mean?

105
00:07:44,620 --> 00:07:45,620
What can you do?

106
00:07:45,620 --> 00:07:46,700
What can you not do?

107
00:07:46,700 --> 00:07:51,300
Because they don't want to violate what God told them to do.

108
00:07:51,300 --> 00:07:52,300
Correct.

109
00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:58,340
They feel a special responsibility almost, almost on behalf of the world, but for sure

110
00:07:58,340 --> 00:08:04,660
on behalf of the Jewish people that they have a responsibility to be faithful to God and

111
00:08:04,660 --> 00:08:08,140
obey what He told them to do.

112
00:08:08,140 --> 00:08:12,540
And it's a little bit of a different take on the law than what we get a lot of times

113
00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:14,060
in our churches.

114
00:08:14,060 --> 00:08:20,660
And even through something as remote as I do every Friday, late afternoon or evening,

115
00:08:20,660 --> 00:08:22,860
depending on when Shabbat begins.

116
00:08:22,860 --> 00:08:27,740
I guess it's easy to fall back on the law and relate to Shabbat because there are so

117
00:08:27,740 --> 00:08:32,660
many laws that are connected to Shabbat, but there are many, many laws that we follow on

118
00:08:32,660 --> 00:08:33,660
a regular basis.

119
00:08:33,660 --> 00:08:40,180
But when I flip a switch and all of the lights in my house go on a timer, it's not just a

120
00:08:40,180 --> 00:08:45,580
mechanical thing legalistic because I don't, I choose, according to my understanding of

121
00:08:45,580 --> 00:08:50,820
Judaism, not to turn lights on and off on Saturday on the Sabbath.

122
00:08:50,820 --> 00:08:56,460
But when I'm doing that, I, through that little action, am honoring God.

123
00:08:56,460 --> 00:08:58,540
I'm honoring the way we interpret it.

124
00:08:58,540 --> 00:09:04,220
Of course, 2,000 years ago when Jesus observed Shabbat and talked about all the legalisms

125
00:09:04,220 --> 00:09:13,100
of Shabbat and had rabbinic debates with people here in the first century Israel, the legalisms

126
00:09:13,100 --> 00:09:18,380
were different because they didn't have electricity, because they didn't have elevators and lights

127
00:09:18,380 --> 00:09:24,980
and how to, and abilities to keep food hot for 24 hours or anything of that nature.

128
00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:26,660
So we have modern interpretations.

129
00:09:26,660 --> 00:09:32,060
But for me, every time I do a little action, I try to make sure to remind myself that it's

130
00:09:32,060 --> 00:09:36,180
not a mechanical thing, but it's really my connection with God.

131
00:09:36,180 --> 00:09:37,540
Yes, beautiful.

132
00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:42,540
Well, Johnson, do you want to share a misunderstanding for us to discuss?

133
00:09:42,540 --> 00:09:43,540
There are just a few.

134
00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:48,780
You know, a lot of Jews really don't understand.

135
00:09:48,780 --> 00:09:53,340
One of the things that actually, it just came up again this week.

136
00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:59,500
I shared an article with a friend, an article that I had written, a Jewish woman who's super

137
00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:02,900
smart and grew up in the South around Christians.

138
00:10:02,900 --> 00:10:04,980
She's not ignorant either.

139
00:10:04,980 --> 00:10:11,900
And she wrote back to me that she understands Christians because Christians only want Jews

140
00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:18,420
to come back to Israel in order that Jesus will return through whether it's Armageddon,

141
00:10:18,420 --> 00:10:23,820
we can talk about end times, but that the motivation of Christian support of Israel

142
00:10:23,820 --> 00:10:31,900
and our returning like I did 18 years ago is simply to expedite Hason Jesus's return.

143
00:10:31,900 --> 00:10:37,500
And that's a tremendous misunderstanding, not exclusive, but maybe you can address that.

144
00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:42,780
Yes, because actually the Bible doesn't say that.

145
00:10:42,780 --> 00:10:47,900
And I've heard it many, many times over the years that it's required that all the Jews

146
00:10:47,900 --> 00:10:51,580
return to Israel so Jesus can come back.

147
00:10:51,580 --> 00:10:58,180
And I've been told that actually there is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that believes

148
00:10:58,180 --> 00:11:01,940
that, but it's not taught in Christian churches.

149
00:11:01,940 --> 00:11:07,380
There's great debate as to whether anything is required to happen before Jesus returns.

150
00:11:07,380 --> 00:11:12,540
And there is a school of thought in Christianity that says he could return at any moment.

151
00:11:12,540 --> 00:11:15,300
So there is nothing that is required to take place.

152
00:11:15,300 --> 00:11:22,700
There's others that quote a verse that says that the gospel will go out into all the nations

153
00:11:22,700 --> 00:11:24,420
and then the end will come.

154
00:11:24,420 --> 00:11:30,500
So maybe we have to be reaching all the unreached people groups in the world with the gospel

155
00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:34,540
before Jesus will return.

156
00:11:34,540 --> 00:11:41,340
Finally when you begin to delve in and deal with the prophecies towards the Jewish people

157
00:11:41,340 --> 00:11:49,100
and about Israel, do you begin to see that well maybe the Jews do need to be back in

158
00:11:49,100 --> 00:11:57,500
the land because Jesus isn't going to return to a Gentile Jerusalem.

159
00:11:57,500 --> 00:12:00,460
I mean he's going to return to a Jewish Jerusalem.

160
00:12:00,460 --> 00:12:05,340
So maybe there is some requirement, but I will say it's hardly ever discussed in churches.

161
00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:09,300
It's never talked about in that way.

162
00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:15,340
And so this really is a very big misunderstanding that this is like a big requirement and we

163
00:12:15,340 --> 00:12:19,140
all know it and we're all teaching it and that's what this is all about.

164
00:12:19,140 --> 00:12:22,620
It comes across even more as a requirement.

165
00:12:22,620 --> 00:12:27,220
It comes across as a nefarious ulterior motive.

166
00:12:27,220 --> 00:12:34,740
And by the way, I mean first of all, of course we disagree on Jesus and that's fine and that's

167
00:12:34,740 --> 00:12:40,140
a much bigger conversation, but we all want Messiah.

168
00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:43,420
And there's nothing wrong with all of the Jewish people being here in the land, but

169
00:12:43,420 --> 00:12:51,820
Jews look at that as Christian support of it as somehow being one upsmanship as a victory

170
00:12:51,820 --> 00:12:53,580
over the Jewish people.

171
00:12:53,580 --> 00:12:59,940
And we interpret it differently, but we're really looking ultimately for the same thing.

172
00:12:59,940 --> 00:13:02,180
That's right.

173
00:13:02,180 --> 00:13:07,420
So I'll bring up another misunderstanding that I find that goes along with this and that

174
00:13:07,420 --> 00:13:13,820
is that when I speak to Jewish audiences, I find that they're always concerned about

175
00:13:13,820 --> 00:13:18,060
these end time prophecies and that that's really why we're doing this.

176
00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:23,180
And some of the end time prophecies are hard and it may be about war.

177
00:13:23,180 --> 00:13:24,900
It may be about an Armageddon.

178
00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:31,380
It may be, you know, and they're like, this is why you really support us is because you

179
00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:36,820
want two thirds of us wiped out in a war or this kind of thing.

180
00:13:36,820 --> 00:13:45,140
And what I find is that actually they're totally ignorant to the fact that most of those scriptures

181
00:13:45,140 --> 00:13:47,060
are from the Jewish Bible.

182
00:13:47,060 --> 00:13:51,100
They're from the Hebrew scriptures, the Hebrew prophets.

183
00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:58,180
In that if somebody is talking about a war, they're usually going to be quoting out of

184
00:13:58,180 --> 00:14:02,060
Zechariah or one of the Hebrew prophets.

185
00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:08,140
And then it's confirmed in the New Testament in the book of Revelation, which is full of

186
00:14:08,140 --> 00:14:14,340
visual.

187
00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:16,460
It's not concrete.

188
00:14:16,460 --> 00:14:21,300
It's like there's a lot of interpretation that you have to bring into the book of Revelation

189
00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:25,780
to understand what it's really conveying.

190
00:14:25,780 --> 00:14:29,980
It's in visions and this kind of thing.

191
00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:38,060
But the more concrete verses are found in the Hebrew prophets.

192
00:14:38,060 --> 00:14:43,420
And another one is that, well, you believe that we're all going to become Christian.

193
00:14:43,420 --> 00:14:50,900
Well, your Bible says that we're all going to be worshiping the God of Israel.

194
00:14:50,900 --> 00:14:55,420
And it just so happens we believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

195
00:14:55,420 --> 00:15:01,140
But yeah, but it's your scriptures that are saying that.

196
00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:07,300
And I remember one time I spoke to a Jewish group and afterwards an elderly man came up

197
00:15:07,300 --> 00:15:14,260
to me and he was completely blown away. He had no idea that most of the Christian Bible

198
00:15:14,260 --> 00:15:16,740
was actually the Hebrew Bible.

199
00:15:16,740 --> 00:15:19,700
He didn't even know it.

200
00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:25,260
And therefore a lot of secular Jews don't even know what their own Bible says, so they

201
00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:29,060
don't know that we're actually quoting their Bible.

202
00:15:29,060 --> 00:15:30,580
100 percent.

203
00:15:30,580 --> 00:15:34,300
You really nailed it on the head and you used the word ignorant.

204
00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:37,900
And I know you didn't use it. Ignorant can become a pejorative word.

205
00:15:37,900 --> 00:15:38,900
It's not.

206
00:15:38,900 --> 00:15:49,700
But people who are not aware of what the Hebrew Bible, the Torah says, really don't know.

207
00:15:49,700 --> 00:16:03,140
And I think that we overall don't dwell on end times theology or what's going to happen.

208
00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:05,540
And there aren't a lot of Jews who run around.

209
00:16:05,540 --> 00:16:10,180
I think much more a Christian phenomena run around saying, well, we're in the end times.

210
00:16:10,180 --> 00:16:14,180
It's the beginning of the end times and we have to prepare.

211
00:16:14,180 --> 00:16:18,660
And there are some people who are brazen enough to say that they know when that's happening.

212
00:16:18,660 --> 00:16:23,060
And that's, I'm sure that there are Jews who do that, but it's not something that's

213
00:16:23,060 --> 00:16:24,060
very common.

214
00:16:24,060 --> 00:16:33,100
So when you have Jews who are secular, predominantly, who don't know their Bible, our Bible,

215
00:16:33,100 --> 00:16:38,820
and you're confronted with Christians who understand it and understand where it comes

216
00:16:38,820 --> 00:16:43,300
from and it connects directly to us and Israel.

217
00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:48,420
And by the way, it's not real comfortable to talk about what's happening.

218
00:16:48,420 --> 00:16:54,100
The war from the north and we're seeing Russia threatening everybody right now.

219
00:16:54,100 --> 00:16:57,140
None of that's comfortable.

220
00:16:57,140 --> 00:17:06,340
But clearly there's a great misunderstanding from a Jewish perspective about what Christians

221
00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:13,060
believe and where they're getting that from, which again, it's probably a matter of interpretation,

222
00:17:13,060 --> 00:17:17,220
but we're not that far off in terms of really what we're understanding.

223
00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:26,260
No, I remember watching a video one time of a Hasidic rabbi teaching.

224
00:17:26,260 --> 00:17:31,780
And he had a whole auditorium full of young men listening to him and they played this

225
00:17:31,780 --> 00:17:33,700
eerie music.

226
00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:38,900
And he's referring to some of these scriptures out of Zachariah and end time and things that

227
00:17:38,900 --> 00:17:39,900
are going to happen.

228
00:17:39,900 --> 00:17:46,580
And of course it was with his interpretation, which was really quite drastic, I have to say.

229
00:17:46,580 --> 00:17:51,700
And it's no different than what a lot of our Christian preachers preach based on those

230
00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:52,700
same scriptures.

231
00:17:52,700 --> 00:18:00,580
The thing that we might disagree on is just the identity of that messianic one, but the

232
00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:06,140
scriptures are in the same Bible that we both have.

233
00:18:06,140 --> 00:18:11,220
And you're right, I don't hear a lot of rabbis teaching on those end time prophecies.

234
00:18:11,220 --> 00:18:12,220
No, I don't.

235
00:18:12,220 --> 00:18:14,220
Maybe they should start.

236
00:18:14,220 --> 00:18:15,220
Maybe they should start.

237
00:18:15,220 --> 00:18:17,740
Well, at least though we should know.

238
00:18:17,740 --> 00:18:25,500
But the challenge, we do know, but the challenge of course is that the people who are less

239
00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:34,620
knowledgeable of their own Bible, of their own scripture, of what that means are not

240
00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:36,540
getting those biblical teachings anyway.

241
00:18:36,540 --> 00:18:41,820
So I'm praying that people will come back to the root of what we need to do.

242
00:18:41,820 --> 00:18:46,900
Because ultimately I do believe that we, through our personal action, this is a digression,

243
00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:54,340
but through our personal actions, we have the ability to hasten the Messiah's arrival.

244
00:18:54,340 --> 00:18:55,900
And that's what we all want.

245
00:18:55,900 --> 00:19:01,660
And that's our responsibility individually and as a Jewish people.

246
00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:05,460
So let's talk a little bit more about motives.

247
00:19:05,460 --> 00:19:15,060
So I've read and heard accusations that our motives are really anti-Semitic, that we

248
00:19:15,060 --> 00:19:18,340
want to get all the Jews back to Israel so two-thirds of them will die.

249
00:19:18,340 --> 00:19:21,180
I mean, that's horrible.

250
00:19:21,180 --> 00:19:29,220
I've heard less vitriol accusations that we just want to get the Jews back to Israel

251
00:19:29,220 --> 00:19:33,580
for them so they're all going to become Christian.

252
00:19:33,580 --> 00:19:36,580
And then I've heard that this and that.

253
00:19:36,580 --> 00:19:43,980
And when in reality our motive, just because a person believes something is going to happen,

254
00:19:43,980 --> 00:19:48,460
doesn't mean that that is the motivation for what they're doing today.

255
00:19:48,460 --> 00:19:50,900
So I'll give an example.

256
00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:57,460
Our organization is so involved in Aliyah and helping bring the Jews back home to Israel

257
00:19:57,460 --> 00:19:59,940
to make it their homeland.

258
00:19:59,940 --> 00:20:03,540
And so we're helping today with the Jews of Ethiopia.

259
00:20:03,540 --> 00:20:06,780
We helped with the Lost Tribe of Manasseh in India.

260
00:20:06,780 --> 00:20:11,340
We're helping now with the Ukrainian refugees from the Russian Jews.

261
00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:16,700
We've been doing this for what, 25, 30 years now.

262
00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:18,580
But what is our motive?

263
00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:25,260
Is our motive because we have some bad motive or it's all about in-time events?

264
00:20:25,260 --> 00:20:26,420
And the answer is no.

265
00:20:26,420 --> 00:20:31,780
Our motive is that first of all, we see God's hand at work in this.

266
00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:37,100
And if he's busy at work bringing his people back to their land, we want to be involved.

267
00:20:37,100 --> 00:20:39,980
Basically, we just want to be involved in it.

268
00:20:39,980 --> 00:20:46,500
Secondly, there are prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that say the Gentiles will assist

269
00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:48,140
in this return.

270
00:20:48,140 --> 00:20:51,180
So we feel we're called to do this.

271
00:20:51,180 --> 00:20:59,380
And that's a very strong motivation that we are called to assist based on the Hebrew Scriptures.

272
00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:02,940
And none of these are bad motives whatsoever.

273
00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:04,900
We see God blessing the Jewish people.

274
00:21:04,900 --> 00:21:06,540
We want to bless them.

275
00:21:06,540 --> 00:21:13,060
We also see in Genesis 1, 2, 3, as you call your foundation, or Genesis 12, 3, that God

276
00:21:13,060 --> 00:21:17,060
promises he'll bless us for blessing his people.

277
00:21:17,060 --> 00:21:23,700
And those really are the main motives that I see in Christians involved in this work.

278
00:21:23,700 --> 00:21:26,100
Well, I agree with you because I see that.

279
00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:32,260
But most Jews, when I say most Jews, I really do believe that it's most, though I might be

280
00:21:32,260 --> 00:21:34,620
statistically wrong.

281
00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:35,900
Most Jews don't understand that.

282
00:21:35,900 --> 00:21:40,780
But it's fascinating and completely appropriate that you use the example that's prophetic

283
00:21:40,780 --> 00:21:42,220
of our return.

284
00:21:42,220 --> 00:21:47,500
You didn't talk about Christians participating in the start-up nation, another tremendous

285
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:48,900
miracle.

286
00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:52,740
And not that that's a bad thing.

287
00:21:52,740 --> 00:21:58,460
God says in many different ways and different places that when we return, or we have returned,

288
00:21:58,460 --> 00:22:00,140
the land will prosper again.

289
00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:02,700
And it's prospering in so many ways.

290
00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:08,740
And it's actually through the prophetic return that you are partnering with something that

291
00:22:08,740 --> 00:22:12,500
God has promised specifically.

292
00:22:12,500 --> 00:22:16,180
He didn't promise he was going to turn Israel into the start-up nation.

293
00:22:16,180 --> 00:22:23,420
And we're going to have the second highest number of start-ups on the stock exchange.

294
00:22:23,420 --> 00:22:26,180
Those are all amazing realizations of that.

295
00:22:26,180 --> 00:22:31,180
But yes, there's a lot of misunderstanding from a Jewish perspective.

296
00:22:31,180 --> 00:22:38,020
And from a Christian perspective, I think there's a flip side which is still that I

297
00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:39,500
can't quantify it.

298
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:47,900
Many, maybe most Christians still believe that we do need to accept Jesus in order for

299
00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:50,700
our own individual salvation.

300
00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:55,700
And that that's therefore a motive of all relationships that Jews will look at.

301
00:22:55,700 --> 00:23:01,900
Everything that you and I are doing individually, collectively, I see EJ and many, many others

302
00:23:01,900 --> 00:23:04,820
as being the sole motivation.

303
00:23:04,820 --> 00:23:12,180
And you phrased it so well a moment ago, but I can't rephrase what you just said.

304
00:23:12,180 --> 00:23:14,380
There are people who may believe that individually.

305
00:23:14,380 --> 00:23:21,940
A matter of fact, a friend of mine who I just hosted on my podcast, Inspiration from Zion,

306
00:23:21,940 --> 00:23:23,980
was really actually striking to me.

307
00:23:23,980 --> 00:23:28,380
He said, I don't think that we need to convert the Jews, but I think the Jews are missing

308
00:23:28,380 --> 00:23:31,020
something by not having a relationship with Jesus.

309
00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:35,180
He said that very sensitively.

310
00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:38,460
And it was a neat conversation that we had.

311
00:23:38,460 --> 00:23:44,220
But maybe you can respond because I'm not in the conversations all the time among Christians

312
00:23:44,220 --> 00:23:46,820
about our salvation.

313
00:23:46,820 --> 00:23:53,820
Well, it's a really important point because the fact that we're called evangelical Christians

314
00:23:53,820 --> 00:24:00,700
for the Jewish people, they interpret that to mean that we are all evangelists.

315
00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:08,420
And even in Hebrew, the term has been translated into Hebrew as evangelist steam, which when

316
00:24:08,420 --> 00:24:14,020
an Israeli then converts that to English, they call us all evangelists.

317
00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:16,460
And I'm always like, no, that's a different word.

318
00:24:16,460 --> 00:24:21,180
An evangelist is one who does evangelism.

319
00:24:21,180 --> 00:24:25,820
An evangelical is one who believes certain things.

320
00:24:25,820 --> 00:24:29,620
And so there's four pillars of evangelicalism.

321
00:24:29,620 --> 00:24:32,700
And one is the authority of the Bible.

322
00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:35,420
That's why we're always quoting the Bible.

323
00:24:35,420 --> 00:24:39,180
Secondly is that we then hold to the key doctrines of the Bible.

324
00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:44,020
Thirdly is that we believe in salvation through Jesus alone.

325
00:24:44,020 --> 00:24:49,220
And then fourthly, that we believe in the importance of sharing the good news of Jesus

326
00:24:49,220 --> 00:24:50,780
with the world.

327
00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:59,860
So the Jewish community interprets all of that as an evangelical Christian is all about converting

328
00:24:59,860 --> 00:25:01,380
me to Christianity.

329
00:25:01,380 --> 00:25:08,460
And therefore they're seen as the enemy because of what we believe.

330
00:25:08,460 --> 00:25:13,780
And so yes, we believe in the importance of sharing this good news with everyone, but

331
00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:18,140
that doesn't mean we believe in ramming it down anybody's throat.

332
00:25:18,140 --> 00:25:22,780
It doesn't mean we believe in tricking anybody into converting.

333
00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:29,020
And it doesn't mean that that is the sole motivation for everything that we do in life.

334
00:25:29,020 --> 00:25:36,140
But yes, Jesus is a great blessing to me and I'm so grateful for what he did in my life.

335
00:25:36,140 --> 00:25:42,780
And I would want everyone to have that blessing and to have that great experience.

336
00:25:42,780 --> 00:25:51,060
But it doesn't mean that I'm going to misuse that and make it just a sole motivation for

337
00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:53,620
everything I do for Israel and the Jewish people.

338
00:25:53,620 --> 00:25:56,260
Right, I want to share something.

339
00:25:56,260 --> 00:26:03,340
You always speak so authoritatively and sensitively, but I had a friend who unfortunately died

340
00:26:03,340 --> 00:26:07,700
in the last year and every time I was with her, she would tell me right then, Jonathan,

341
00:26:07,700 --> 00:26:12,940
you need to get down on your hands and knees and accept Jesus to be saved.

342
00:26:12,940 --> 00:26:15,580
And she did it out of love.

343
00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:18,060
See that's the other thing that Jews don't understand.

344
00:26:18,060 --> 00:26:20,500
It's almost as if it's sort of like a victory.

345
00:26:20,500 --> 00:26:22,820
Christians are trying to have a victory over Jews.

346
00:26:22,820 --> 00:26:27,900
It's still uncomfortable, but I understood and I remember visiting with another friend

347
00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:32,020
who said, but of course we want all Jews to have a relationship with Jesus because that's

348
00:26:32,020 --> 00:26:35,060
how we believe that that's the path of salvation.

349
00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:44,540
Now the only path of salvation and I, we disagree on that, but when at least a Jewish person

350
00:26:44,540 --> 00:26:51,620
understands that it's coming from a position of love, to me that's disarming.

351
00:26:51,620 --> 00:27:00,020
I can have a conversation with somebody as compared to somebody who is just trying to

352
00:27:00,020 --> 00:27:05,900
convert me and take me away from the traditions that I live now that are thousands of years

353
00:27:05,900 --> 00:27:06,900
old.

354
00:27:06,900 --> 00:27:09,100
It's a terrible misunderstanding.

355
00:27:09,100 --> 00:27:15,660
It's exacerbated by there are individuals whose soul, raison d'etre, is to convert Jews.

356
00:27:15,660 --> 00:27:20,380
There are individuals who ram it down their throats, our throats everywhere.

357
00:27:20,380 --> 00:27:25,580
And there's not everyone who I think, and maybe it's not a nice word, are enlightened

358
00:27:25,580 --> 00:27:28,740
as you are in terms of the understanding of that.

359
00:27:28,740 --> 00:27:37,140
But when we have these conversations, it creates understanding, albeit a made differences.

360
00:27:37,140 --> 00:27:42,100
Well I do know that a lot of Christians, you know, they may go to Israel for their first

361
00:27:42,100 --> 00:27:43,580
trip, they're brand new to this.

362
00:27:43,580 --> 00:27:50,460
They don't realize how the Jewish people do see Christianity and see Jesus.

363
00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:55,460
And so for us, it's like this wonderful thing in our life and we're so excited about it

364
00:27:55,460 --> 00:27:59,700
and we'll share freely about it.

365
00:27:59,700 --> 00:28:06,020
We don't understand the history of Christian anti-Semitism and that the Jewish people are

366
00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:11,020
looking at us through a certain prism or through lenses of that history.

367
00:28:11,020 --> 00:28:17,180
And so we see Jesus as this wonderful thing, but they see, they interpreted history that

368
00:28:17,180 --> 00:28:19,700
Jesus brings bigotry and hatred.

369
00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:27,300
Now that's a shocking thing for a Christian to realize, and it's not because Jesus certainly

370
00:28:27,300 --> 00:28:32,540
did not bring hatred or bigotry, but his children did.

371
00:28:32,540 --> 00:28:39,260
The church brought it into their theology and taught contempt of the Jewish people.

372
00:28:39,260 --> 00:28:44,980
And only once we understand that history do we understand how there are two completely

373
00:28:44,980 --> 00:28:51,820
opposite views of who Jesus was and what Christianity is even all about.

374
00:28:51,820 --> 00:28:57,300
It's funny you say that, Susan, because it's not exclusive to non-religious or secular

375
00:28:57,300 --> 00:29:05,500
Jews, but it's ironic that among secular Jews who don't really know their Bible, they do

376
00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:11,540
know this bad history as it relates to the church and what's been done in the name of

377
00:29:11,540 --> 00:29:15,980
Jesus to us over thousands of years.

378
00:29:15,980 --> 00:29:21,980
And so we bring that baggage along with us and it's shocking.

379
00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:27,140
I truthfully love having conversations with Christians about this, not God forbid, not

380
00:29:27,140 --> 00:29:34,260
to make anyone feel bad, but understanding where we're coming from and why there's a

381
00:29:34,260 --> 00:29:39,060
view of suspicion about all these things that we're discussing.

382
00:29:39,060 --> 00:29:42,340
But specifically, I wanted to share one more thing.

383
00:29:42,340 --> 00:29:46,700
One thing that always stuck with me years ago, I was watching a video online.

384
00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:51,700
It was probably around Yom HaShawa the day we commemorate the murder of 6 million Jews

385
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:52,700
in the Holocaust.

386
00:29:52,700 --> 00:30:00,300
And I was watching a video of an elderly Jewish woman who returned to her town in Poland to

387
00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:02,180
visit to have some sort of closure.

388
00:30:02,180 --> 00:30:03,620
I don't remember the details.

389
00:30:03,620 --> 00:30:10,020
The thing that struck me is that she was walking near the church in her town.

390
00:30:10,020 --> 00:30:15,900
She crossed the street naturally.

391
00:30:15,900 --> 00:30:16,980
She didn't even think about it.

392
00:30:16,980 --> 00:30:22,740
And then she narrated, I wish I could find this video again, she narrated how as a child

393
00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:28,620
she understood that the church was a dangerous place for Jews and they were always taught

394
00:30:28,620 --> 00:30:32,740
to cross the street and stay as far away from the church as possible.

395
00:30:32,740 --> 00:30:38,780
And of course, she met the physical church, but what was emanating from the church.

396
00:30:38,780 --> 00:30:40,380
And this is in our generation.

397
00:30:40,380 --> 00:30:45,500
We're not talking about 500 years ago or 1000 years ago.

398
00:30:45,500 --> 00:30:48,140
This is within this century.

399
00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:51,940
And it's just shocking to realize that.

400
00:30:51,940 --> 00:30:55,860
And it's something that we do need to overcome in this relationship.

401
00:30:55,860 --> 00:30:59,580
Well, John, we're running out of time.

402
00:30:59,580 --> 00:31:06,740
But do you have one last area, one last misunderstanding you'd like to discuss before we close it

403
00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:07,740
out?

404
00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:16,980
Well, actually, I think maybe if we go back to the Bible, it's a question of how we read

405
00:31:16,980 --> 00:31:17,980
it.

406
00:31:17,980 --> 00:31:21,660
Now, it's very normal, I think, for Christians to think.

407
00:31:21,660 --> 00:31:28,180
And I have conversations very organically like this with people who want to understand

408
00:31:28,180 --> 00:31:33,020
who I am and what I believe, but can't begin to unless we have these conversations.

409
00:31:33,020 --> 00:31:41,380
And so I think that there's a predominance of Christians who think that all Jews know

410
00:31:41,380 --> 00:31:45,580
and relate to the Bible as Christians do.

411
00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:47,980
And we don't.

412
00:31:47,980 --> 00:31:52,860
When you spoke of revelations a few minutes ago, I know of the book of revelations.

413
00:31:52,860 --> 00:31:58,260
I've read excerpts from it, but I'm not by any stretch an authority.

414
00:31:58,260 --> 00:32:02,700
I can go into a church and I do frequently and I hear a pastor preaching from the New

415
00:32:02,700 --> 00:32:03,900
Testament.

416
00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:09,700
And I understand where the Old Testament reference, the Jewish reference is in that, that is from

417
00:32:09,700 --> 00:32:14,020
one of the apostles or from Jesus himself.

418
00:32:14,020 --> 00:32:20,860
But I think a lot of Christians don't understand that we look at it completely differently.

419
00:32:20,860 --> 00:32:25,860
Maybe you can say something enlightening that helps both Jews and Christians.

420
00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:32,420
Well, there's one difference is we go straight to the Bible.

421
00:32:32,420 --> 00:32:37,900
And for the Jewish people, there's a lot of you first go through rabbinic interpretations

422
00:32:37,900 --> 00:32:39,540
of the scriptures.

423
00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:45,700
And you study what all these rabbis throughout the ages commented on that verse or how they

424
00:32:45,700 --> 00:32:48,820
interpreted and how they saw it.

425
00:32:48,820 --> 00:32:52,540
And that is one difference.

426
00:32:52,540 --> 00:33:01,220
And I do think that, you know, I would love to study under a rabbi to teach like the book

427
00:33:01,220 --> 00:33:06,060
of Zechariah just to go back to our earlier conversation about the end time events to

428
00:33:06,060 --> 00:33:11,900
hear how they do interpret it because it is different.

429
00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:18,100
And I'm afraid I'm not even able to articulate, but from the Christian perspective, especially

430
00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:23,620
from the evangelical Christian perspective, we go straight to the Bible and we believe

431
00:33:23,620 --> 00:33:25,980
it to say what it was written to say.

432
00:33:25,980 --> 00:33:28,580
So some people would say it's a literal interpretation.

433
00:33:28,580 --> 00:33:33,860
It's actually not, it's a what we call a contextualized interpretation.

434
00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:37,100
So if it's poetry, we interpret it as poetry.

435
00:33:37,100 --> 00:33:39,060
If it's a song, we interpret it as a song.

436
00:33:39,060 --> 00:33:45,500
We don't interpret everything literally, but we interpret it literally as it was written,

437
00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:47,620
what it was meaning to say.

438
00:33:47,620 --> 00:33:51,220
And so we study it directly.

439
00:33:51,220 --> 00:33:53,780
And to me, that's one difference.

440
00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:57,700
And by the way, that's an amazing, you know, I, when we were talking about it and I raised

441
00:33:57,700 --> 00:34:03,140
the issue, I didn't even think of rabbinic commentary as being something that's different

442
00:34:03,140 --> 00:34:09,220
because that's just innately who I am and a part of what I am and how we look at scripture

443
00:34:09,220 --> 00:34:11,660
through rabbinic interpretation.

444
00:34:11,660 --> 00:34:12,900
And yeah, you're right.

445
00:34:12,900 --> 00:34:18,180
It's not just old and new and people get offended by old, new and different names.

446
00:34:18,180 --> 00:34:20,740
I don't get bothered by that, but you're right.

447
00:34:20,740 --> 00:34:27,820
We have thousands of years of rabbinic interpretation that we consider the oral law and that's got

448
00:34:27,820 --> 00:34:33,420
equal status with the original written law that God gave Moses.

449
00:34:33,420 --> 00:34:36,820
So it's a fascinating understanding and you're right.

450
00:34:36,820 --> 00:34:38,900
Don't begin to understand it.

451
00:34:38,900 --> 00:34:44,820
The only time I actually heard a Christian speak in a church about the Talmud was in

452
00:34:44,820 --> 00:34:49,860
a pejorative way about the things that the rabbis in the Talmud would say about Jesus.

453
00:34:49,860 --> 00:34:54,300
And I don't have a source on that, but it was interesting to me and disappointing that

454
00:34:54,300 --> 00:35:01,740
that was the reference as compared to our feeling back later on the onion to understand

455
00:35:01,740 --> 00:35:03,260
and have a deeper relationship.

456
00:35:03,260 --> 00:35:09,380
But you raise a very good point about even the difference between the written law and

457
00:35:09,380 --> 00:35:10,380
the oral law.

458
00:35:10,380 --> 00:35:13,220
So we're just dealing with the written.

459
00:35:13,220 --> 00:35:21,220
And yet Judaism has this whole oral tradition of the oral law and the rabbinic commentary

460
00:35:21,220 --> 00:35:24,940
on it and the Talmud and et cetera, et cetera.

461
00:35:24,940 --> 00:35:27,860
So well, listen, Jonathan, this is fascinating.

462
00:35:27,860 --> 00:35:32,780
We could go on for a long time discussing all of this.

463
00:35:32,780 --> 00:35:33,780
It's great.

464
00:35:33,780 --> 00:35:40,220
But we so appreciate you giving up your time today because you and I are really, we're

465
00:35:40,220 --> 00:35:41,860
on the same page here.

466
00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:46,700
We've had a lot of the same experiences over the years.

467
00:35:46,700 --> 00:35:52,300
And so to discuss them, but each from our own perspective, I trust that our audience

468
00:35:52,300 --> 00:35:53,620
has really enjoyed it.

469
00:35:53,620 --> 00:35:54,860
So I know I have.

470
00:35:54,860 --> 00:35:57,780
And I thank you, Jonathan, very much for joining us today.

471
00:35:57,780 --> 00:35:58,780
It's a pleasure.

472
00:35:58,780 --> 00:36:03,460
I hope because we've been discussing misunderstandings that I hope this contributes a little bit

473
00:36:03,460 --> 00:36:10,740
more to understanding how profound what a perfect ending to today's conversation.

474
00:36:10,740 --> 00:36:16,540
So next week, I am going to close out this series on Jews and Christians learning to

475
00:36:16,540 --> 00:36:17,540
relate.

476
00:36:17,540 --> 00:36:21,500
And I'm going to talk about who are evangelical Christians?

477
00:36:21,500 --> 00:36:22,620
How many are there?

478
00:36:22,620 --> 00:36:28,740
Why do they support Israel and elaborate a little bit more on some of what we discuss

479
00:36:28,740 --> 00:36:30,340
today about that?

480
00:36:30,340 --> 00:36:33,060
So I hope everyone will come back next week.

481
00:36:33,060 --> 00:36:54,980
And until then, God bless.