Thanks for pointing that out, YKohen. Although they may not be socially accepted as Jews or may consider themselves Christian, they still remain Jews with regard to being members of the nation of Israel provided they have a Jewish mother. It’s similar, I believe, to being baptized Catholic in that it is indelible.
Micah,
This jogged my mind. Jews, I understand. When the writer says considered by “Jews and Christians as a marginal cult”…the writer is differentiating Christianity from the Messianic Jew. I am not saying I agree or disagree. I am pointing out a fact.
Instead of calling them a ‘cult’, I would describe them as a people who in Viktor Frankl’s parlance, are ‘searching for meaning’ apart from Judaism and apart from mainstream Christianity. I think they definitely want to be true to their faith, but they are struggling to know how to incorporate it into action.
Micah,
Thank G-d, what I am saying in this case is universally accepted by the religious Jewish world- and these ideas have been around and accepted for thousands of years.YK,
It is not often that someone can speak for the entirey of a people.
If Viktor Frankl were alive, he might be offended if I used these Jewish converts to Christianity as a example of man’s search for meaning. For two reasons, first, they are Jewish, and second, he did not think of his theory as being religious or spiritual.
YK,Thank G-d, what I am saying in this case is universally accepted by the religious Jewish world- and these ideas have been around and accepted for thousands of years.
There appears to be a discrepancy with your speaking for all Judaism…
Micah,
YKohen does not claim to be speaking for all Judaism; he is speaking for all (or most) Orthodox Jews. There is precious little one can say about the tenets of Judaism that Jews would universally agree upon.
I speak for Orthodox Judaism- Rabbinic Judaism, the Judaism that you think of when you picture a Jew.
Most Conservative Jews do believe that G-d gave us the Torah; even some Reform Jews do, such as myself. The Talmud is another issue. It’s the interpretation and meaning of the Torah that differs.
All the Reform Jews I have ever known don’t hesitate to eat shellfishand other non-kosher animals, don’t believe in Torah from Sinai, etc. I would definitely be pleased to find the official positions to be otherwise.
Many Reform Jews do not keep kosher. However, there is a tendency nowadays, at least in the US, in which Reform Jews are becoming more orthodox: wearing kippahs in the synagogue, conducting liturgical services in Hebrew as well as English, and refraining from eating shellfish and pork, admittedly the only aspect of kashruth observed. For myself, I never eat pork products but do eat shellfish on rare occasions, not without some guilt. I also don’t mix meat and dairy (I’m a semi-vegetarian anyway) but perhaps I’m atypical in that respect due to being raised in a kosher home and attending an Orthodox synagogue when I was a child.
And laila tov to you, YKohen.You just made my day- or rather, night.
Laila tov from Israel.
Yk,