Jews and the "Apochrypha"

[Potter]

Today I attended a lecture on Jewish history at a local synagogue. During the question/answer period, I asked what view modern Jews took of I and II Maccabees. He asked, “Isn’t that in the New Testament?”

The speaker was from a very Reform synagogue, but I was surprised by the answer. I know the non-Hebrew books of the Jewish scriptures were dropped from their ‘canon’, including the Maccabees, but even if they were not held as Scripture, I thought Jewish scholars and teachers might remain familiar with them…especially when giving a historical lecture that included a quarter-hour on the Maccabean revolt. (I thought maybe that Hanukkah ceremonies might include a reading of certain passages from the books!)

I don’t know how many persons of Jewish ancestry come to CA, or their level of observation, but how are the books of the ‘Apochrypha’ regarded, generally? Surely they aren’t so far removed from thought that they’re seen as solely part of the* Christian* tradition?

 

[dmar198]

Today I attended a lecture on Jewish history at a local synagogue. During the question/answer period, I asked what view modern Jews took of I and II Maccabees. He asked, “Isn’t that in the New Testament?”

The speaker was from a very Reform synagogue, but I was surprised by the answer. I know the non-Hebrew books of the Jewish scriptures were dropped from their ‘canon’, including the Maccabees, but even if they were not held as Scripture, I thought Jewish scholars and teachers might remain familiar with them…especially when giving a historical lecture that included a quarter-hour on the Maccabean revolt. (I thought maybe that Hanukkah ceremonies might include a reading of certain passages from the books!)

I don’t know how many persons of Jewish ancestry come to CA, or their level of observation, but how are the books of the ‘Apochrypha’ regarded, generally? Surely they aren’t so far removed from thought that they’re seen as solely part of the* Christian* tradition?

I remember my brother introducing me to a Jewish family that lived below his apartment once. I was very surprised that, in the course of a typical conversation, he brought up the Maccabees because they were part of the title of an event called the Maccabean Olympics. Hannakuh and the Maccabean Olympics show that the story of the Maccabees still informs Jewish culture. I too would be surprised if the Maccabean books weren’t read and cherished by modern Jews.

 

[adf417]

Today I attended a lecture on Jewish history at a local synagogue. During the question/answer period, I asked what view modern Jews took of I and II Maccabees. He asked, “Isn’t that in the New Testament?”

The speaker was from a very Reform synagogue, but I was surprised by the answer. I know the non-Hebrew books of the Jewish scriptures were dropped from their ‘canon’, including the Maccabees, but even if they were not held as Scripture, I thought Jewish scholars and teachers might remain familiar with them…especially when giving a historical lecture that included a quarter-hour on the Maccabean revolt. (I thought maybe that Hanukkah ceremonies might include a reading of certain passages from the books!)

I don’t know how many persons of Jewish ancestry come to CA, or their level of observation, but how are the books of the ‘Apochrypha’ regarded, generally? Surely they aren’t so far removed from thought that they’re seen as solely part of the Christian** tradition?

I don’t know. I am currently reading “The Jews in the Time of Jesus” by Stephen M. Wylen, a Jewish rabbi at Temple Beth Tikvah in Jersey. While the book is very interesting, it did only gloss over these writings. The author gave only one paragraph reference to these so far and as you can imagine, called them “apocrypha”.

To his credit, he does state "Christians preserve a collection of these books as part of there “Old Testament”.

Peace!!!

 

[Kaninchen]

I don’t know how many persons of Jewish ancestry come to CA, or their level of observation, but how are the books of the ‘Apochrypha’ regarded, generally? Surely they aren’t so far removed from thought that they’re seen as solely part of the* Christian* tradition?

Might I respond to a question with questions?

What do you think the ‘purpose’ of the Tanakh (what you call the Old Testament) is in Judaism? How do the various parts relate to one another?

 

[Moses613]

I don’t know how many persons of Jewish ancestry come to CA, or their level of observation, but how are the books of the ‘Apochrypha’ regarded, generally? Surely they aren’t so far removed from thought that they’re seen as solely part of the* Christian* tradition?

Well, they sort of are that far removed. Once the Jewish Sages of the Second Temple Period excluded them from the Biblical canon, mainstream Rabbinic Jews didn’t pay much attention to them and they were rarely read. They are not part of our Bible and they are not divinely inspired. Nevertheless, a minority of scholars over the years have paid attention to them, and recently they have been looked at more even in orthodox communities. The books of the Maccabees are unique in that they are considered ok to read for their historical value, but they are in no way considered authoritative or inerrant. So you’ll find some people that read them (I have an English-language book on my shelf by an orthodox author called “Inside Channukah” that contains large translated sections of these books) but they are still not that widely known or read.