Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written another interesting piece about Yeshua of Nazareth, Saul of Tarsus, and universal promotion of Jewish values. Read it on the Jerusalem Post website:
"No Holds Barred: Non-Jews as the Saviors of Judaism".
Not for the first time, Shmuley argues that "Jewish ethics" should be adopted by all people.
The thought came to my mind that Shmuley's interest in disseminating "values" and "ethics" but all in the absence of the direct promotion of doing so as a lifestyle of worship of the God of Israel may not amount to more than paganism.
ReplyDeleteHe suggests that Shaul joined pagan theological concepts with Jewish ones in order to devise Christianity, which shows his aversion to paganism, but paganisms promoted certain values, if I'm not mistaken. Roman pagan theology probably taught to value, protect, and raise one's children, upheld a concept of honor, etc. Granted the quality of these values were "off" since they were not centered on the one true God and his ways.
But then again, Yeshua speaks of those who clothe and feed him yet don't know they do so. Are they professed followers of Yeshua, or are they not so informed yet responding fruitfully to the truth they may simply sense? So perhaps spreading Jewish "values" and these forms of observing the feasts in a manner geared for Gentiles would actually be appropriate...? At least Shmuley's calling people to modesty, fidelity, charity... These things please God, no?
His tactic, though, in light of his goal, is kind of weird. He essentially wants a--all or many of the Getiles to suddenly dig Jews, at which point we would feel prouder and more comfortable to live our Jewishness openly, and perhaps b--Gentiles, valuing our existence as a people, would perhaps thereby promote (pressure...?) us into staying Jewish (i.e. marrying Jewish, eating kosher, etc--all the things Shmuley sees as the central expressions of a Jewish lifestyle). Thus I, at least, understand his game plan.
I agree with Shmuley that assimilation is a huge problem. I believe in upholding the national identity of Israel. As an Israelite I intend to do so by seeking God himself, living by his instructions, teaching the world to simply seek TRUTH, and both asserting and protecting my lineage from Yaacov. As for Shmuley's hope that the Gentiles could play a signifant role in encouraging Israel to maintain herself, I'm more inclined to believe based on our long history that as more and more Jews reject their identity, God gets progressively angrier at our arrogance, eventually forcing us to be ourselves and to be geographically together...which doesn't usually look pretty as the Gentiles are his age-old primary means for accomplishing that goal. I'd say that the remedy Shmuley seeks for Israel is in calling Jews not to the ways of the rabbis but rather to the throne of the living God, where he himeslf draws and teaches us to be righteous and holy--the essential matter of the Jewish identity.