Jewish Traditions?

[ajpirc]

We, as Catholics, accept the Word of God as both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Our Scripture consists of the Scripture from Judaism and of Christianity. If we accept the Traditions of Christianity, do we also accept the Traditions passed down through the Jewish Prophets?

 

[GloriousOrder]

Technically, I suppose following ancient Jewish customs would be a violation of the first commandment. It is a commission of spiritual adultery to enter into invalid worship. Since Jesus Christ our Lord instituted a New Covenant, the rituals of the Old Covenant have no power or even meaning any longer. We can say that to engage in our old Jewish traditions would be schismatic, since they contain no efficacy anymore.

 

[Teresita99]

We, as Catholics, accept the Word of God as both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Our Scripture consists of the Scripture from Judaism and of Christianity. If we accept the Traditions of Christianity, do we also accept the Traditions passed down through the Jewish Prophets?

Certainly we do this when we defend Catholic practices such as the use of holy water from the attacks of our separated brethren when they claim they are unbiblical.

Numbers 5:17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

 

[Vico]

We, as Catholics, accept the Word of God as both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Our Scripture consists of the Scripture from Judaism and of Christianity. If we accept the Traditions of Christianity, do we also accept the Traditions passed down through the Jewish Prophets?

No, the New Covenenant has a different Tradition. For example, to distinguish from the Jews, the Christians fast on Wed and Fri, instead of Mon and Thur, and observe the Resurrection (Sunday) on the eighth day.

 

[ajpirc]

Sorry, but I mean Jewish big T Sacred Traditions, not customs. If we use the Jewish books of the Bible, wouldn’t we use their Traditions?

 

[JReducation]

Actually, it is not schismatic to continue Jewish traditions, if one puts them into their proper context. If that were the case, every Hebrew Catholic, including yours truly, would be in big trouble. We still celebrate certain Jewish holidays and attend certain Jewish rituals with our families. Even Popes Benedict, John Paul II and John XX III would be in trouble for praying the Shabat prayerrs.

One has to understand why these traditions came into existence. One also has to understand what they do for us and what they do not do for us. For example, celebrating a Seder is a custom that some Christians continue. One has to understand that the Seder foreshadows the mass and that it is celebrated to recall what God did for his people. There is nothing contrary to Catholic faith in recalling what God did for his people. That’s why we read from the OT at mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours. We want to remember and to praise God’s glory. We want to be reminded that God had a plan for us from all eternity.

That being said, we have many elements of Jewish tradition, with a lower case “t” in the Catholic Church. One of them is our relationship with Mary. It’s very strongly influenced by the Jewish understanding of the role of the mother in the life of faith. We even use the same language as Judaism. In Judaism we say that the mother is the keeper of the faith and that she leads her family into the faith. In Christianity we speak about Mary’s faith and about her role leading men to Christ, because she is Mother.

Then there are many little things like incense at mass, the bishop’s mitre and the head piece of the Jewish High Priest, the crosier and the shepherds staff, the use of the stole by the ordaiined and the white garment at Baptism. These are all Christian customs that come to us from Judaism. They are not part of Tradition with upper case T. But they are customs that the first Jewish Christians brought with them and were preserved.

We have the format of the mass, which follows the format of a seder. It’s just simpler than a seder, because you don’t have the whole family around the table. The Liturgy of the Hours has its roots in Judaism. The ancient Jews sanctified the different hours of the day.

There were many beautiful Jewish traditions that inspired equally beautiful Christian traditions. One of my favorite Jewish images in Christianity is the use of the kippa. When I see bishops, monsignors, and some male religious wearing it, I just smile. It’s a little thing, but it gives such a warm sense of continuity between the OT and the NT. We have to recall that the covenant between Christ and the Church is the fulifllment of the old cevenant. The old covenant was never abolished. It was fulfilled. That’s a big difference. Bl. John Paul made this very clear on a number of occasions.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[God_is_Good_1]

Technically, I suppose following ancient Jewish customs would be a violation of the first commandment. It is a commission of spiritual adultery to enter into invalid worship. Since Jesus Christ our Lord instituted a New Covenant, the rituals of the Old Covenant have no power or even meaning any longer. We can say that to engage in our old Jewish traditions would be schismatic, since they contain no efficacy anymore.

The traditions handed down through Old Testament Scripture (as opposed to man-made or Rabbinic traditions that acted as hedges or fences around Scripture and were meant to keep the Jewish people from accidentally sinning) were both fulfilled and practiced by Jesus, with New Testament Scripture as witness.

On the flip side, those Rabbinic traditions (man-made fences/hedges mentioned earlier) were clearly denounced by Christ in His dealings with the Jewish leaders of his day. Indeed Jesus condemns these well-intentioned, but misguided interpretations of Holy Scripture – then re-teaches/re-directs the offending tradition in favor of a better one.

Insofar as all the Scriptures (old and new) ultimately point to Jesus Christ (Messiah), His suffering, death, and resurrection – He becomes the ultimate sacrifice and atonement for sin and the ultimate fulfillment of the old traditions. In this respect, all other Old Testament traditions (sacrifices, purifications) pale in comparison, and are therefore less effective (if not outright ineffective) for salvific purposes.

 

[God_is_Good_1]

Actually, it is not schismatic to continue Jewish traditions, if one puts them into their proper context. If that were the case, every Hebrew Catholic, including yours truly, would be in big trouble. We still celebrate certain Jewish holidays and attend certain Jewish rituals with our families. Even Popes Benedict, John Paul II and John XX III would be in trouble for praying the Shabat prayerrs…

There were many beautiful Jewish traditions that inspired equally beautiful Christian traditions. One of my favorite Jewish images in Christianity is the use of the kippa. When I see bishops, monsignors, and some male religious wearing it, I just smile. It’s a little thing, but it gives such a warm sense of continuity between the OT and the NT. We have to recall that the covenant between Christ and the Church is the fulifllment of the old cevenant. The old covenant was never abolished. It was fulfilled. That’s a big difference. Bl. John Paul made this very clear on a number of occasions.

Thank you for this, JR… The similarities in the Jewish sacred traditions and the Catholic sacred traditions (for those with eyes to see) are numerous. And whether we openly acknowledge it or not, our sacred traditions have been revised and renewed periodically to reflect better understanding of sacred Scripture through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thank G-d for His mercies to us!

 

[Crumpy]

An understanding of this should start with the most recent document (that I am aware of) about the Old Testament and Christianity:

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCJWSCR.HTM

This document, as it says, is just the introduction to the subject, but an illustrative one.

The Jews celebrated Shavuos on June 7-8, which is the celebration over the receipt of the covenant at Sinai. Now, that is a great tradition, and I wish we had a corresponding tradition in Catholicism – that would be recognized as being a corresponding tradition.

We celebrate the new covenant in the Easter Triduum, instead, for example.

 

[JReducation]

For those who would like to follow along with the Jewish calendar, especially if you have a Jewish family as I have, you may do well to look at the Scriptures. Many of the Jewish holidays are rooted in events in Scripture that have never been written off and that foreshadow Christ and the Church. Some of the more popular days are

Rosh Hashanah: First day of the new year in the Jewish calendar

Yom Kippur: Day of atonement (many of our Ash Wednesday practices are found here)

Sukkot: commemorates the days that Israel wandered in the dessert. It’s a positive holiday, because the focus is that God never ceased to provide care and guidance.

Simchat Torah: Jews rejoice in the Law. That has been kept in Christianity, especially in Catholicism. We have the Torah (Penteteuch) and for Catholics it continues to be an essential part of Revelation, i.e. The Commandments. I think Protestants are less attentive to the whole of the Torah (Pentateuch) than Catholics. Their focus seems to zero in on the Commandments, whereas Catholics still pay close attention and venerate the Patriarchs and remember the covenants with them. We teach them to our young in religious education and we read them at mass. The stories have a special place at the Easter Vigil.

Hannukah (though a minor holiday): the Feast of Lights. Again, Christians celebrate Christ the Light of the world three times during the liturgical year: Feast of the Incarnation (Annunciation) especially big in the Eastern Catholic Churches and in certain religious orders such as Dominicans, Franciscans, and Carthusians, Christmas, and Easter

and of course

Passover: Easter on the Christian calendar. We proclaim it in the Exultet It’s interesting, because the Exultet has some of the wording that the traditional father would say to the youngest child on the night of Pasch and it follows the exact same format. It tells the story beginning with . . .

*This is the night . . .

“This is our passover feast”

“His blood consecrates the homes of all believers”

“You freed the people of Israel from their slavery” *

Then it goes on to link the events of the Passover with the Redemptive work of Christ. The point is that those who know the story of the Pasch find special meaning and consolation in the Exulted, because we can see our history reach its splendor in the Resurrection. As St. Edith Stein said, “Ours is not a dead history, but one that has been brought to its fulfillment in the revelation of the Risen Messiah that was promised first and foremost to our Fathers and then revealed to the Gentiles through our people.”

Edith understood the mission of Israel and the Jewish customs in our day. They prepared our people for the Revelation of the Messiah. Once that was done, many of the customs now faded away, because they had fulfilled their purpose. However, our Law (The Torah) which is encapsulated in the Commandments and in the covenants with the Patriarchs will never die, because Christ comes to fulfill it. That which has been fulfilled by Christ is preserved, honored and coveted by the Church. Our mission, as the people of Israel, becomes patently clear in the work of the Apostle Paul, to bring Him who was revealed to us and among us, to the Gentiles. The prayer of every Hebrew Catholic is, “That G-d may grant me the favor of leading all men to Him…”

Exulted Words and Melody.

I don’t know who chants this, but he has a beautiful voice.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF