Jewish Orthodoxy

Some words of encouragement quoted from a comment to a news item at Come and See, a Christian news page from Nazareth, Israel. There is a permanent hyperlink to this site in the side bar in two places: under Hebrew Orthodox Christianity, the link Hebrew Greek Orthodoxy, and under With no apologies, I visit…, the link Come and See. The author of what follows signs himself only as Reuven ben Yohanan.

Shalom,

Here are just some words of encouragement for anyone reading who is a Jewish Orthodox Christian.

As a Jewish Orthodox Christian, I think it is important not to forget our Jewish identity. Just read the Gospel of Matthew or the book of Acts and you will see how Jewish the Early Church was. The Early Jewish Christians kept the Sabbath, attended the Synagogue for daily prayer and kept the Commandments. Even today in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has Jewish roots, Christians practice circumcision, Kashrut, observe laws regarding purity and keep the Sabbath. Jesus was never against the Law, He just criticised the hypocrisy of keeping some aspects of the law to the tiniest detail whilst ignoring the essence and purpose of the Law. Even non-Jewish Orthodox Christians need to be careful with rules such as those about fasting. Jewish Orthodox and non-Jewish Orthodox just need to remember that these laws or rule are not an end in themselves, but a means to attaining communion with God.

There is already so much in our Church which shows us our Jewish heritage. For example, the Liturgical day starts at Sunset, Saturday is still seen as the Sabbath (Sunday is the day of the Resurrection), the Holy Scriptures are processed around the Church for the congregation to see before being chanted (not read), many of our prayers include the clause ‘Blessed…’ as do Jewish prayers, the Prophets from the Old Testament are still remembered on various feast days throughout the year, we still use the Tehillim extensively in our services, traditional altars have a menorah, we make bows at various points during our prayers.

The Chabad movement like us remembers various Holy people important to the faith, and the list continues. More importantly, when it comes to some matters of theology, especially regarding the nature of man and sin, Orthodox Theology is actually much closer to Jewish Theology than it is to Western Christian Theology. For example, both an Orthodox Jew and an Orthodox Christian would be turned off by an Augustinian explanation of the fall, man’s nature, sin and redemption. For more information, you may enjoy the book Surprised by Christ by Fr James Bernstein.

Jewish Orthodox Christians can express their Jewish identities in many ways. For example, keeping the Sabbath day, praying traditional blessings over all of one's actions and celebrating Jewish feasts are all good examples.

Just like every Orthodox Church has its own focus, so can the local Jewish Orthodox Church. For example, in the Serbian Orthodox Church there is a special custom called the Krsna Slava, a family's celebration of their conversion from Paganism to Christianity. This includes breaking bread, drinking wine and reciting certain prayers. This is only done in the Serbian Church.

Similarly, in the Russian Church there are certain feast days and traditions which are only observed among Russians. Even in the West some Orthodox parishes celebrate local celebrations, like Father's Day, by mentioning special prayers and feasting. So there is no reason why Jewish Christians should not remember the important events in our people's history such as Purim and Hannukah, even more so the great feasts of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

As Jewish Orthodox we have a lot to be proud of. The King of the Universe gave our small nation the honor of defending monotheism and through our people all nations were blessed with Christ being born to a Jewish mother, meaning He was a Jew!

Today we also have an important role. Firstly, to other Christians we have to show that there is nothing wrong with being Jewish and being Christian. Unfortunately anti-Semitism still exists in all circles, even some Jewish people feel ashamed to be Jewish.

To an Orthodox, besides the fact that Christ Himself was a Jew, we can point to Holy people such as Mother Maria Skobstova, who has been canonised for her heroic effort to save Jews during the holocaust which ultimately led to her dying in a concentration camp.

Secondly, to our Jewish brothers and sisters we need to remind them that Orthodox Christians are monotheists and observers of the Noahide Commandments.

Most importantly, we need to be an example of love to the world. In this age of so much hate, we need to show others the way of the Messiah. Hearing about the vandalism of the Church saddens me, but I want to encourage the local community to respond with love.

Anyway, Abouna is right that such persecution only strengthens the community. Remember the words of Christ to ‘pray for those who persecute you’ and that ‘blessed are the peacemakers.’

Remember the words during the Liturgy: ‘Blessed are you when you are persecuted...Rejoice and be glad.’ We need to love all people and never be caught with a bad word in our mouth about another. As followers of the Messiah, we need to start acting like Him!

— Reuven ben Yohanan