Jews for Jesus

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Interesting post, Sunny; thank you for sharing it.

Meanwhile, anyone see the ad currently on the page:

[Sunsilver]

Voronwë, what is particularily interesting is THIS:

Is Jews for Jesus a Christian organization, or is it a Jewish organization?

Jews for Jesus has never made a secret of the fact that the organization and its doctrine is strictly Christian in the fundamentalist/evangelical understanding of Christian faith (click here to view the organization's doctrinal statement). While the majority of the missionaries who work for Jews for Jesus grew up in Jewish homes, and while most of them identify themselves as Jews, their message is a distinctly evangelical Christian one. Two examples of high ranking Jews for Jesus missionaries who have Web sites are Susan Perlman and Bob Mendelsohn.

Link for above: http://www.exjewsforjesus.org/j4jquesti ... r%20jewish

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yes, that is interesting.

[Jnyusa]

Cerin, way back near the beginning of this thread you asked:

Is there something that has symbolically replaced the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament that were required in order to be acceptable in God's presence and for atonement? Or is it thought that the shedding of blood was only necessary for that time?

I was googling some Jewish history late last night after following the TORC link that Windy provided in the 'Suffering' thread and reading there all of Kushana's posts, and I found a lengthy article in Wikipedia about the period following the destruction of the Second Temple.

This if from Jewish scholar Jacob Neusman:

Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained, poised with teachings directed to all Jews that could replace Temple worship. Such teachings extended beyond ritual practices. According to the classic midrash in Avot D'Rabbi Nathan (4:5):

The Temple is destroyed. We never witnessed its glory. But Rabbi Joshua did. And when he looked at the Temple ruins one day, he burst into tears. "Alas for us! The place which atoned for the sins of all the people Israel lies in ruins!" Then Rabbi Yohannan ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort: "Be not grieved, my son. There is another way of gaining ritual atonement, even though the Temple is destroyed. We must now gain ritual atonement through deeds of loving-kindness."

I knew nothing about the tenets of early Pharisaic Judaism, but apparently they had been arguing since the return from Babylon that the ritual purity of the Levites was an obligation of all Jews ... that the people were the Temple in a sense, and there was one subgroup that even formulated it that way explicitly.

That would be an accurate summation of belief today, I think: that the Jewish People are the Temple.

When I gave my long-winded explanation about animal sacrifices being the economic support for the administrative class, this was true in a literal, secular way but Frelga is right, of course, that there was also a metaphorical and religious meaning given to this which persists today. I found this additional explanation from Neusman:

Instead of giving tithes to the priests and sacrificing offerings at the Temple, the rabbis instructed Jews to give money to charities. Moreover, they argued that all Jews should study in local synagogues, because Torah is "the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob" (Deut. 33: 4).

Actually, this is the way it was taught to me - that the obligation to make charitable donations is the same as the obligation to bring sacrifices to the Temple during the Temple eras.

Jn

[Whistler]

Interesting link, indeed.

Of course there is no excuse for any organization operating in this manner, if this information is accurate. Still, I think it is also true that their tactics, and their beliefs, are two different matters.

And thanks, Jn. I was wondering about this question also, and this is a very positive and satisfactory answer.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Comedian Jackie Mason is suing the Jews for Jesus for distributing a pamphlet with an image of him next to the words "Jackie Mason ... A Jew for Jesus!?"

"While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami," the 75-year-old comedian said in documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

"The pamphlet uses my name, my likeness, my `shtick' (if you will), and my very act, which is derived from my personality, to attract attention and converts," Mason said in an affidavit.

Their response?

Susan Perlman, a spokeswoman for Jews for Jesus, said the pamphlet was "good-natured."

"Shame on him for getting so upset about this," she said Friday.

I wouldn't be "upset" if it were me. I would be royally pissed off.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00374.html

[nerdanel]

I think that it is unsurprising that a group using a name as de facto misleading, deceptive and oxymoronic (but not in a good way) as "Jews for Jesus" would resort to (other) deceptive and misleading advertising. Sorry, Voronwë, but I think that "royally pissed off" is too generous.
(and yes, I am annoyed that "Jews for Jesus" has "good naturedly" ignored my requests to take me OFF their mailing list for seven years now)