Celebrating Jewish Holidays?

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QuizBowlNerd

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Today I attended a presentation on Judaism, and I was rather surprised when the presenter (a World Religions teacher at a Catholic high school) told us that “It’s not improper for Christians to participate in Jewish holidays because Jesus participated in them.” Is this accurate?
 
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Jewish practices have changed over the past two millennia. Just because Jews celebrate something today, does not mean Jesus celebrated it in the same way or at all. There’s also cultural elements that could be insensitive to “borrow” without really sharing that heritage. I do know some Catholics who converted from Judaism who still retain some of those practices.

That said, I think it can be very fruitful to learn more about an ancient Judaism as it is our ancestor in the Faith. Brant Pitre is a great author with books that address this.
 
Pope JPII issued some directives, iirc, on which were and weren’t appropriate.

My understanding is that most of the Jewish holidays are not to be celebrated after the Messiah comes (but a couple will), so there could be an implicit denial of Christ’s status . . .

But this is all above my pay grade.

hawk
 
I would imagine that Hanukkah and Passover would be a couple of the acceptable ones…

And I’d imagine Yom Kippur to be one of the unacceptable ones…

Actually this year I was planning on doing some Hanukkah observations during Advent and celebrating Christmas as well.
 
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Wow ok my mom was half Jewish on her mothers side I was raised secular but we have and continue to celebrate chanakuh, pesach, sim chat Torah , Pentecost, the feast of tabernacles, Yom Kippur, and the other appointed times right along side Christmas, Halloween, and Easter never was an issue and Catholicism is basically fulfilled Judaism in my opinion so why would ther be an issue?
 
The issue would come from a celebration which is stating that the Messiah hasn’t come yet . . .
 
dochawk said:
The issue would come from a celebration which is stating that the Messiah hasn’t come yet . .
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Couldn’t they just omit any prayers or readings from the Talmud about that?

Have you found the Magisterial document which touches on this and is there a list of Jewish feasts which Catholics are forbidden to celebrate?
 
Omitting those from a feast of expectation would seem to be like observing Christmas while omitting references to Jesus’ Paternity . . .

hawk
 
Hasn’t the Pope himself celebrated Passover Seder meals with Jewish leaders?
 
My parish has a Seder meal for what it’s worth. I’m not sure if it’s modified from the Jewish form though.
 
ChristMyLife said:
Hasn’t the Pope himself celebrated Passover Seder meals with Jewish leaders?
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If so, that’s acceptable. Jewish feasts aren’t for us to imitate- but we’re free to participate if we’re invited by our Jewish friends. It wouldn’t be much different than going to a non-Catholic service- let them do their thing, participate when appropriate, but don’t deny the Faith.
 
My wife is Jewish, so I have some perspective on this. Members of the tribe, as I affectionately call them, are almost always happy to invite us gentiles to their celebrations, just as us Catholics are happy to have non Catholics at Mass (though their intent is not to convert). It’s perfectly fine to participate with the Jews, however cultural appropriation is not acceptable - like modifying the Passover Seder in some way, I.e. christianizing it, and still calling it a Passover Seder.
 
Most Catholics know very little about our Jewish roots, and should learn more about Judaism.

All of the principal figures of our faith were Jewish.

I teach a couple of lessons in RCIA about our Jewish roots each year, which includes a Seder meal for the students and their spouses.

Those candidates understand the Exodus, baptism, and the Eucharist in a deeper way, and benefit from it greatly.

We should study whom JP II referred to as “our elder brother in the faith,” if we want to understand our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ in a more profound way.
 
edtaylor51 said:
Members of the tribe, as I affectionately call them, are almost always happy to invite us gentiles to their celebrations, just as us Catholics are happy to have non Catholics at Mass (though their intent is not to convert).
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It can be wise to have a ride home arranged in these cases . . . many of the more observant are quite particular about filling and emptying the wine glasses . . .

Oh, and don’t even think of attending the Feast of Esther without transportation home!

Years ago, I was invited to one at a Chabad House (spelling), very orthodox Jewish campus housing. This included somewhere to sleep.

They take the injunctive to drink to the point of not being able to distinguish between two names quite seriously.

I’m Irish-Catholic, but even we have never managed to make intoxication a religious mandate! 😱

hawk
 
I have a Mensch On A Bench that lives under our Christmas Tree.

I bought it because the Elf On The Shelf gives me the freakin’ willies, and the Mensch is spiritual.

I mean no disrespect.
 
I have cats that run off with anything under the Christmas tree . . . especially the oreo cat, that seems to mistake small stuffed animals for the kittens she never had . . . :roll_eyes:
 
We’re not. We follow Christ we don’t await him. There is no Christian (Catholic) rite of awaiting Jesus Christ to come back.
 
The local Chabad House here would never invite an outsider in, that’s great! They won’t even invite Reform Jews. And yes the Feast of Esther is quite the occasion. There are many reasons Orthodox Jews are supposed to live within walking distance of a synagogue 🙂
 
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