Say, New Yorkers: Get ready for even more annoying street people bothering you over the next month. The “Jews for Jesus” evangelists intend to be out in force during July, and they want—New York Jews.
NEW YORK – New York City, which some have called a microcosm of a Jewish universe, will be met with the most intensive evangelistic outreach to Jews in July.
“This will be one of the largest and most strategic outreaches to Jewish people in the history of the Jews For Jesus ministry,” said Susan Perlman, associate executive director for Jews For Jesus.
Jews for Jesus has gone out to the streets of New York, mainly Manhattan, for the past three decades in evangelistic efforts. But this summer’s outreach is “unique” to all preceding ones, according to Perlman.
I would so like to be a witness to one of these schmucks approaching a Hasidic Jew in New York.
“Jews for Jesus made a commitment … to have an evangelistic outreach that had an intensive evangelistic outreach with a follow-up component in every city in the world that had a Jewish population of 25,000 or more,” Perlman explained. “We were able to pinpoint 54 cities.”
Darn, and Richmond wasn’t one of them. I’m so bummed. I could use an exercise in illogic with a bunch of faux Jews.
And the Greater New York area, the “mother of American Judaism” as Dr. Gerhard Falk, author of numerous publications, labeled it, was left as the final region in the extensive effort called “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9).
So if New York is the mother, who’s the father? Richmond? We have the one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the nation here. So who are the offspring? Chicago? Newark? (Okay, Newark is the child who left home as a teen and never came back, or anyway, moved to Livingston, Short Hills, and probably Teaneck. Yes, these are all NJ inside jokes.)
Kicking off on July 1, the outreach will have nine simultaneous campaigns running throughout the entire month, including specific outreaches to the Israelis, a speaking campaign to the large Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn, and a special emphasis in Westchester County. The organization that began in New York in 1975 had never done anything extensive throughout the five boroughs and other counties until this summer.
Wow, nine simultaneous campaigns. That’s like, more than eight! And they’re going to speak to the Russians! Not, like, I dunno, sign to them, or hand them pamphlets. And Westchester. Okay, let me indulge myself in a little bit of stereotyping here. Gonna love to hear the results of the Fake Jews for Jesus’ encounters with the Westchester Jewish American Princesses. I predict death, destruction, and many “Oy, veys!”
Also unique to this year’s New York campaign is involvement at an international level, with Jews for Jesus staff from all over the world, and domestic level.
“It’s a very international campaign,” Perlman commented. “It also involves lots of local churches, messianic congregations and individuals who want to lovingly and boldly bring the Gospel to Jewish people.”
To boldly go where no faux Jew has gone before! To seek out new Christians, and tell them they’re really Jewish! To have congregations that are 75% Christian and pretend that they’re really Jewish! Now that’s a mission.
On a personal level, Perlman said, “I’m a Jewish New Yorker. I heard the Gospel for the first time on the streets of Manhattan many years ago. It was foreign to me. I think most Jewish people think that Christianity is not for the Jewish people.
That would be because, gee, how do I put this: Christianity isn’t Jewish.
“There are those that are really curious and want to know more [of the Gospel] and then there are those who say … ‘It’s impossible. You can’t be Jewish and be a Christian at the same time.’ But we’re living examples of the fact that it is possible.”
Well, no, you’re living examples that you’re, well stupid. If you accept the divinity of Jesus, you are a Christian. Religiously, there is no such thing as a Christian Jew. You may have been born a Jew, but once you accept Jesus as God, your religion is no longer the religion of the Jewish people. Doesn’t matter how many times you say it, you’re still lying.
By the way, let me put aside all semblance of joking for a moment, and point something out. This evangelical outreach is not coming from Jews. It is coming from Christians. This puff piece is from The Christian Post, a Christian newspaper. The overwhelming majority of members of “Jews for Jesus” churches are Christian. The few people who were born Jews that they have do much of the outreach. And here, we have a site that describes “Jews for Jesus” as an abusive organization that misuses its people—much like any other cult.
I could go on and on about the faux Jews, but, well, I already did, several times. I will doubtless do so again. I really, really, really hate liars, and “Jews for Jesus” is nothing if not an organization of liars.
So Judith: Heads up. They’re coming for you.
Hehe. I’m actually kind of looking forward to having them knock on my door.
“You know, Jesus was Jewish, and then he found the light!”
‘He also ended up getting badly tortured before being publicly crucified. So why exactly would I want that?’ :)
My wife and took our sons to Israel in the Park in San Francisco several weeks ago. The Faux Jews always scout out events like this and sure enough approached us while we were on our way back to the car. I simply waved my hand and said “don’t insult me,” and the guy remained quiet. The problem is we were stuck at a red light at cross walk and my wife was just seething at the approach. She teed off on the guy, reeling off how there purported “conversions” had the effect of destroying Judiasm etc. At first he tried to protest, but her verbal attack was brutal (she is about 5 foot 3, 115 pounds, this guy was over 6 feet tall, heavy and definintely afraid of her). My sons–13 and 8–rolled their eyes throughout, but were definitely proud of Mom.
Please don’t judge Jesus by his followers but rather how he satisfies prophecies in the Tenakh in Daniel and Yeshiyahu and how his message of sacrifice, forgiveness, freedom, and love is distinct from ANY other walk of faith or idea… as in free, by grace. We all need Yeshua Ha’Meshiach. Yehudim and Goyim.
Of course it is over-zealousness when Goys love Israel senslessly or try to look like Datot. But we are all sinners and have haphradah from G-d. The JFJ are zealous as well, but they carry the truth. The fact that you and I and they all need Yeshua to live the best way.
And to be Jewish is not only a religious identity, just look at 75% of Israel today, hilonim and yet still Jewish. So you can’t say because we change our religion that we cease to be Jewish. We are ethnic and spiritual Jews and thusly can add to, replace, or fulfill the current over-polish, over-rabbi-ed, over-legalistic, earnings-based faith… as in become a Messianic Jew… and STILL be Jewish and, I would propose, be more Jewish for it. I believe that I have fullfilled my birthright and found Yeshua to be at the heart of The Sefer.
So I hope these JFJ people can get past themselves and share the truth and not make asses of themselves AND that we can all consider what is left when man-made religion is gone, and I have to bridge the gap of separation between my teva hotey and THE LORD. For me it is faith in Yeshua my Meshiach. What is left for you?
Oh, look. One of them found me. And hasn’t got very good reading comprehension skills, either.
Here, let me repeat myself: If you accept the divinity of Jesus, you are a Christian.
Done now.
“…AND that we can all consider what is left when man-made religion is gone…”
Hi David. Sounds like you’ve been reading a bit of Joseph Campbell – or something akin to it (Power of Myth etc…).
My sister Carol really likes his writings. Have you read his stuff?
I agree with you in principle, but I have a question about this statement:
“Religiously, there is no such thing as a Christian Jew. ”
The Messianic Jews that I’ve met would probably argue that point. From what they tell me, being Jewish isn’t tied up as tightly in the belief of whether or not the messiah has already arrived as it is for Christians. So here’s my question: is it possible to believe in Christ’s divinity and still remain a Jew? If I remember correctly, Jews are waiting for a messiah. If he’s already arrived, how does that invalidate their Jewishness? I’m actually curious as to your opinion on the matter, as I’ve asked similar questions of my Jewish friends and have received multiple answers.
Nope. The only divinity Jews believe in is the divinity of God. The Messiah will be a human being. And we don’t believe he’s arrived yet.
There was a time when the divinty of Jesus was still being hammered out. The Arian Christians did not believe in the divinty of Christ and that he was the messiah.
Towards the beginning, “there was still a closeness between them” – Jews and Christians.
(I found this book while Googling the term ‘Arians’)
When Jesus Became God
http://www.edbydesign.com/books/0156013150.html
cond0010
Actually, the Arian dispute with the Trinitarians was over the essence of Christ. I think the Arians did regard Jesus as divine, but being of a “lesser” nature.
David seems to think that spicing up his post with Hebrew makes him sound authentic.
Well, it’s not very good Hebrew, and it just makes him look silly.
Anyway, I’m grateful to him for showing me the latest methods and techniques. I always find them interesting.
Christian evangelism got its start in the days of the Roman Empire, when the only way Christianity could survive was to recruit new members faster than they could be fed to the lions.
Today, it’s seriously overused and misapplied by fanatics who have long forgotten the original purpose of evangelism. They should be seeking converts in Muslim or African countries, not trying to convert Jews in America.
But, of course, that would actually put their lives in danger. So much for seeking rewards in heaven…
Rachel: your welcome, i think :o), and I’m sorry if I don’t get the Hebrew/English right all of the time. Neither is my first language.
Cond0010: I must admit that I only heard of him for his influence on Starwars theology. The power of myth is clear in the world. But, I think that relativistic pluralism is a silly game to play. Two or more exclusive claims cannot coequally exist in truth. And at the heart of every faith there are exclusive claims.
Meryl you say: “Nope. The only divinity Jews believe in is the divinity of God. The Messiah will be a human being. And we don’t believe he’s arrived yet.”
How would you tell a Lebavicher that he is not Jewish for thinking the Messiah has already come… And how would you prove that all those who supported Barkokhba were not Jewish as well. I think they are/were Jewish, but just mistaken. And so if I can be Jewish today and maybe mistaken, then so too can you be Jewish and mistaken.. and we are all still Jews! So now we just need to be honest about our search for true Ideas, and a little less tied to unfairly debasing an idea because of some of the people who have followed it i.e. stupid persecuting and or genocidal Christians in past and present.
Maybe be careful speaking for all Jews. Even if I am not one in the end in your arguement, there are these others who would not agree with you on your requirements of Jewishness.
Maybe that is a good question, Meryl what does it mean to be Jewish for you?
As far as agreeing with Jesus’s divinity proving Christianity: I would say that is fine, there can be religiously Christian ethnic Jews. Jesus was Jewish, no? AND, again, I believe that true religious Judaism is accepting and following Jesus, not following the next set of well intentioned Tzitzi’s or mysticism.
If the word El-him is plural but the name of One, then maybe we can recognize that Jesus is in the Tenakh and begin a fair journey of questioning and not sit stuck in unchecked ignorance or denial. OR i would say that demons believe in the deity of G-d and Jesus, does that make them Christian by your logic? But maybe that third is irrelevant here.
And after the loathing of ‘them’ people and fear of losing ones identity, can we actually question the old testament and brit, ah sorry, new testament for messianic prophecies that could only be fulfilled by the historical Jesus and also question Jesus’s claims in Matthew. It’s our book, we should read it, and not just Job and Berisheet, and know the heart of our history and faith. Try not to just say ‘of course it is wrong or it can’t be true, everyone knows it’ but check it yourself, or you run a great risk because ‘everyone’ doesn’t think the same thing. There are many testimonies including mine, of Jews finding Yeshua to be true Messiah, it is a big step to figure things out for yourself and be responsible. You may not agree inthe end, but at least question and dig/search. To know, without questioning, is to know very little. Maybe go to yeshua.co.il or chosenpeople.com if you don’t like JFJ or even ariel.org
I have accepted the divinity of Jesus and fulfilled my Jewishness or become a Believing Christian… but don’t worry I am yet still a healthy crusade/nazi/inquisition/pogrom-hating Jew… Christian really need our Messiah, they’ve f-ed up a lot… but that’s the point again isn’t it… we all need Him…
-one of them
David
Oh… in my wanderings on the internet, I discovered this:
The Jewish Messiah : The Criteria
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general-messiah-criteria.html
I realize that this thread is done and I am in the minority, so let’s disagree, thanks for letting this go Meryl, keep up the good stuff. David
cond0010, i would argue that Jesus meets or will meet all of those, he came once as the servant and will come again as the King. Here is another list of the criteria expalined more fairly I believe (under ‘Evidence that Jesus is Messiah’/’What proof do you have…’).
I’m a Christian, David. That last bit was not in confrontation towards your points, but more of a bolstering of Meryls.
Meryl is not interested in your words. You’ve said your peace. That should be good enough, I think.
As for your proofs, David: I have no desire for spiritual legalese or doctrinal hairsplitting – I leave that to people far greater than me.
Faith is a very qualitative process and people can argue it until they are blue in the face. However, if you beat people over the head with your doctrine and your proofs, all you are going to get is confrontation.
So – are you doing this out of your superior intellecual understanding of Christ or are you really trying to pass on the good news?
David, Meryl is right. You don’t have very good reading comprehension. I wasn’t complimenting you.
And by the way, I hate liars at least as much as Meryl does.
David: I am not going to discuss my Jewishness with you. I can probably interpret Rahel’s last comment, though.
We see right through your bullshit.
You misuse Hebrew like a Christian pretending to be a Jew, which is what most of the JforJs do. Easy enough to say you’re Jewish. On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.
And on my website, don’t proselytize. I’ve removed your links to JforJ.
Don’t put them back.
Prophecies of Jesus that Christians will never share: Deuteronomy 4:28, 18:20-22, 28:36, 28:64; Isaiah 44:13-17; Jeremiah 16:19-20; Zechariah 13:5; Psalm 146:3 (KJV) …
Yes, again I say let us disagree and keep to what we agree on. Faith is surely qualitative. And I have had my chance to see where you are coming from and vice versa. My intention was to show an alternative that may have only been heard about, not to be superior. I believe head bashing until i’m blue would have looked much different.
Im so sorry if I miscommunicated or was misunderstood. Please try not to attack my character, but only choose against or for my ideas. I use the Hebrew that I am speaking, and I thought the messiah criteria links were relevant to add next to the JFJudaisim link for comparison. I have never worked with or for any of these groups.
Of course this stuff is emotionally charged, so thank for being as civil as you were able. May we all have better reading comprehension!
david
Thank you, David. God Bless you.
John
One of the first things the rabbi asked me in our initial conversation regarding my conversion was about Jesus. Since I had been a practicing catholic for many years, it is one that I had worked through before seeking out a rabbi.
I told her if he existed, he was just one of the many thousands of Jews who had been crucified by the Romans.
You cannot be a Christian Jew or a Jewish Christian.
Hi, my name is DeDe, I work for Jews for Judaism (www.jewsforjudaism.org),a countermissionary organization that provides resources and education to Jews targeted for conversion. I found your blog through a technorati search on Jews for Jesus, and figured while I
was here I’d respond to the discussion. We’re tracking their
“Behold Your God” campaign right now in New York, which will continue
through the end of July. Their basic goal is to use their deceptive and
aggressive tactics of masking fundamentalist Christianity as
“completed” Judaism to proselytize to as many Jews as possible through
a variety of means– you can read all about it here:
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/byg/NewYork2006.html
And here’s info on their direct mail campaign:
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/byg/NYBYG2006/NYBYGMediaCampaignMemo.pdf
For background on this issue, just visit our website or email
nybyg@jewsforjudaism.org.
Just for the record, can we have an answer to the question about Lubavitch – many in that organisation believe that the late Rabbi Schneerson z”tl was/is Messiah. Are they still Jewish or not ?
The difference between the Lubavicher belief in the Messiah and the JforJ belief in the Messiah is one that is missed by so many, it amazes me.
Lubavichers aren’t Christians. They’re wrong about Schneerson, but they’re not Christians. There is no comparison. They don’t worship Rabbi Schneerson as a god, they don’t claim that he was the son of Gd or the human incarnation of Gd, and they still, as far as I know, follow the Torah in every way. (The followers of Jesus–need I point out?–do not.)
So your question, as was David’s, is a red herring. Or is it a false comparison? I get totally lost in logical fallacies sometimes.
DeDe, thanks for stopping by and leaving the links.
I recently wrote an anti-missionary book called, “26 Reasons Why Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus.” I would like to offer some specific advice and strategy for those Jews who wish to debate so-called Jewish Christians. Christian missionaries are often highly experienced debaters and their minds are rarely changed by rational argument. They are expert at quoting verses in the Christian translation of the “Old Testament†(Jewish Bible) that superficially appear to refer to Jesus. It is crucial for Jews to understand that most of these passages have been strategically mistranslated and/or manipulated and/or taken out of context, and a proper Jewish translation (such as the Stone Edition of the Jewish Bible), must therefore be consulted. According to Jewish theology, Gentiles do not need to become Jews to have a place in the World to Come. Therefore, debating Gentile Christian missionaries has no meaningful purpose and may expose an inexperienced Jew to specious arguments and mistranslations that they are not equipped to answer. However, it is important to bring Jews back to Torah and Judaism for the sake of their Jewish souls. To maximize the chance of success, it is important that such a debate be framed appropriately:
First: Begin by describing the unique nature and the profound significance of God’s national revelation to the Jewish People. (See my Introduction). This creates unique credibility for Judaism and its theology, which is qualitatively superior to Christian claims.
Second: Level the theological playing field by explaining that if Jesus is not literally “god†then worshiping Jesus (a man) is idolatry for a Jew, (but not a Gentile). The penalty for such idolatry is “koras,†which means separation from God in the World to Come. (See my Reason 2)
Third: Describe the six specific messianic criteria delineated by the Jewish prophets to identify the Messiah Ben David. Explain that since Jesus did not fulfill any of these six criteria, he is eliminated from messianic consideration. (See my Reason 8)
Fourth: Emphasize that Jesus’ supernatural history appears to have been plagiarized from the history of the pagan woman-god Isis and the man-gods Mithras and Dionysus. This demonstrates a devastating lack of originality in the Jesus story. (See my Reason 24)
CONCLUSION: These important issues frame the discussion and enable a Jewish Christian to understand what is truly at stake, which levels the theological playing field. It is very important to explain that belief in Jesus separates a Jew from God both in this world and in the World To Come, while embracing Torah and mitzvot (commandments) brings a Jew into the proper relationship with God. When a Jew worships Jesus, (a man) he commits idolatry, (a cardinal sin) which is punishable by kores (separation from God in the World To Come). Anyone interested in my book should visit my website at http://www.26reasons.com
Meryl said: Lubavichers aren’t Christians. They’re wrong about Schneerson, but they’re not Christians. There is no comparison. They don’t worship Rabbi Schneerson as a god, they don’t claim that he was the son of Gd or the human incarnation of Gd, and they still, as far as I know, follow the Torah in every way.
They ascribe him the title “Messiah, the King”; they pray to/through him as an intermediary; they teach that as Messiah he would die and rise again – that all sounds pretty much like Christian stuff to me.
According to Rabbi David Berger (“The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference”, ISBN 1874774889), their beliefs clearly violate Torah in several ways – so much so that their competence to carry out kashrut supervision has been called into question.
Here’s the thing, Jonathan. I will not play “Who is a Jew” with you, and I will not have that discussion on my weblog. I have seen it devolve into too much anger and name-calling.
Go somewhere else if you want to argue that the Lubavichers aren’t Jewish. You’re not going to do it here.
Actually quite the opposite, Meryl. In spite of their non-orthodox ideas, I’m convinced they are just as Jewish as the rest of us.
I am a Gentile who believes Jesus is my Messiah, Savior and Lord. Perhaps one of the Jewish readers can answer a question I have had…
Since there is no longer a temple in Jerusalem, there are no longer any animal sacrifices, and since atonement for sin requires that blood be shed to cover the sin, where does a Jew find atonement for their sins today?
This is an FAQ on many Jewish sites such as http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/
#29 Peggy asked a question that is actually considered a FAQ. It is actually dealt with on myany sites which go into great detail – such as Judaism 101 or Outreach Judaism Responds to Jews for Jesus
I was involved 25 years ago answering it on the soc.culture.jewish FAQ then. The basic answer is that the question itself involves a misconception. Blood in and of itself does not cause atonement nor is it required for repentance. The Torah says that it can only be used for sacrifices, but it is not the only (nor the most important) component. When the temple is rebuilt (and while it was in existence) certain sacrifices were part of the atonement process. However, there were sacrifices that involved no blood (such as the korban minchah – flour sacrifice). Also, this misconception is part of what caused the first temple to be destroyed. People at one time began to think of the sacrifices in the pagan manner, as a magical process that would automatically causes atonement to occur. They would sin, bring the appropriate sacrifices and then continue to sin. That is why the prophets explained that the sacrifices were considered “idol worship” even when brought to G-d.
In the Yom Kippur prayer we say
U’Teshuvah, U’Tefillah, U’Tzedakah Maavirim es Roa Ha’gezeirah
Repentance, Prayer, and “Charity” avert the evil decree.
The propet Hoshea (14:3) says “uneshalma parim sefaseinu” – Our lips shall pay the calves. That is, once the temple was destroyed, our prayers – speaking of the sacrifices that we can no longer bring, will be treated by G-d as if we had brought them.
As the prophet Hosea says in one of the special haftarot for Shabbat Shuvah:
“K’chu imachem d’varim “Take words with you v’shuvu el-Ad-nai, and return to the Lrd, imru eylai, Say to Him: kol-tisa avon, ‘Forgive all guilt v’kach tov, and accept what is good;
So it would appear that we do need words when we go and speak to G-d. But which words? The words of prayer? Of praise? Of repentance? Of our hearts? Of our minds?
No, it’s not the words themselves. As I said before, it’s how we use them, and what we use them for. Bull should not be coming from our lips. Rather..
un’shalma parim s’fateinu” instead of bulls we will pay [the offering of] our lips.'” (JPS)
…what comes from our lips shall be like the offering of bulls to G-d. Hosea wasn’t just telling us that Temple sacrifices can be replaced by words. These words are our sacrifice to G-d. Thus we must treat what we say in our communications with Gd carefully, keep them as unblemished as the bulls we would offer up.
Question 11.8.1: Sacrifices: When did Jews stop making animal sacrifices?
Answer:
Jews stopped making animal sacrifices when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Jews are forbidden to offer any sort of sacrifice outside of the Holy Temple.
Question 11.8.2: Sacrifices: What replaced animal sacrifices in Jewish practice?
Answer:
It is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice was never the exclusive means of obtaining forgiveness, and was not in and of itself sufficient to obtain forgiveness. For some transgressions sacrifice was not even effective to obtain forgiveness.
Jews believe that sacrifice is the least important way to gain forgiveness from G-d. Repentance is more important. Very few sins required sacrifice (per Leviticus). For example., the animal sacrifices are only prescribed for unwitting or unintentional sin (Leviticus 4:2, 13, 22, 27; 5:5, 15 and Numbers 15:30). The one exception is if an individual swore falsely to acquit himself of the accusation of having committed theft (Leviticus 5:24-26). Intentional sin can only be atoned for through repentance, unaccompanied by a blood sacrifice (Psalms 32:5, 51:16-19).
This is re-enforced: “And you shall call upon Me, and go, and pray to Me, and I will hearken to you. And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Given its relative unimportance even in Biblical days, what comprised an acceptable Jewish sacrifice?
Many people think that Jewish sacrifice required blood sacrifice. This is not true. The primary commandment about blood is that it shouldn’t be eaten. (Leviticus 17:10) “And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set
My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.” This can be paraphrased: “Don’t eat blood.” The next phrase (Leviticus 17:11) goes on to say, “For the soul of the flesh is in the blood and I have assigned it for you upon the altar to provide atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that atones for the soul.” This explains why blood is not to be eaten, and that when it is used as part of a sacrifice it must be sprinkled on the altar of the Temple. Note that it doesn’t say, “blood is the only way to atone” it says that you shouldn’t eat the blood because its only use is for sacrifice. Since this is a little confusing lets use an example: we can say that all little boys are people, but does that mean that all people are little boys?. So Leviticus says “Don’t eat blood. You can use it for sacrifice,” but it doesn’t say that blood is the only acceptable sacrifice.
What is an acceptable sacrifice? Well, we know what isn’t: the Torah strictly forbids human sacrifice, unlike most religions of the Biblical era.
What kind of sacrifices were allowed? Throughout the Book of Leviticus, only distinct species of animals are permitted for use in blood sacrifices. There is also atonement by a cereal offering (Leviticus 5:11-13), atonement by gold (Num. 31:50), and atonement by the burning of incense: “So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the L-RD.” (Numbers 17:11). Remember that prayer and repentence must accompany sacrifices.
When Jews were not near the Temple (they lived too far away, or were captives as in Babylon) sacrifice was not done by them. King Solomon said that even in the days of the Temple prayer could be used by those away from the temple to obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50).
Synagogues from the time of the Temple have been excavated by archeologists. They were used, as they are today, for prayer. Once or twice a year sacrifices were sent to the Temple from these Synagogues.
Now that there is no Temple there are no sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3); i.e., prayer and repentence.
Peggy,
The problem is that your premise is incorrect. In Judaism, atonement for sin does NOT require (or, today even permit) that blood be shed. Even when the Temple stood, blood sacrifice was not the sole nor even necessarily a sufficient atonement for sin.
For Jews, atonement for sin is made through teshuva, in the manifestation explained here, and also through prayer and the performance of good deeds. This is one of the fundamental tenets of Judaism and it is as important in distinguishing Judaism from any form of Christianity as our differences concerning the identity and nature of the Jewish messiah.
If you’re really interested in a detailed and thoughtful answer to your question, you’ll find it here.
Ooops. And thanks to Sabba Hillel for a great response that I didn’t see until I had already posted mine.
but if prayer and good works are all that is left in Jewish atonement, then isn’t modern Judaisim a works-based faith i.e. earning your way to reward?
How good is good enough?
Again, Eli, both your premise and your understanding of Judaism are faulty. Judaism has always been a works-based faith. That isn’t at all “modern.” It goes all the way back to Mount Sinai.
Our ancient covenant with God has always required that we bring holiness into the world through our deeds, every day, from the minute we get up each morning until we go to sleep at night. For many observant Jews, the performance of God’s 613 commandments is its own reward, but it also assures a place in the world to come.
Your implicit derogation of “works” is a Christian concept, completely foreign to us. One more nail in the J4J coffin.
if it is a coffin that it takes to admit that people can never ever be good enough to please God or earn heaven, then I welcome it. For me it is arrogance and dishonesty with sel to believe that any sinful man can ever placate a perfect God. We need a perfect substutute, Yeshua.
Thank you for pointing out the main difference between followers or Yeshua (christians) and every other religion in the world… when you ge to the end of your humanity, try the free gift of a graceful God, instead of earning.
Nice to see you were not truly interested in the answers to the questions you asked.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, because you have proven that you are mostly asshole.