When I changed schools at age 12 many, many years ago in England, one of the things I found at first perplexing, but afterward came to appreciate, was our seven-day revolving schedule.
As we went to school five days a week, this meant that you didn’t wake up on any particular day knowing whether that day you would learn math, or French, or whichever lesson you hated, because lessons never fell on the same day of the week.
There was also religious education, but it wasn’t called that – it was called “Scripture.” As a Jewish girl, I could opt out of scripture lessons, so of course I did.
However, my headmistress called me into her study and said, “You are a Jewish girl. One day someone will challenge you on your religion. Learn about Christianity so you can answer them from knowledge and not ignorance. Dismissed.” I took her wise words to heart and as an adult, I made a point of reading Mein Kampf and the Quran.
The first time I effectively used what I learned was on my first visit to Israel, with my late husband, when we visited the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
There, we encountered a young couple, the obviously Jewish man proudly wearing a “Jews for Jesus” T-shirt. I engaged him in conversation, to the visible annoyance of the young woman he was with. It turned out he knew nothing about the New Testament. Before his girlfriend dragged him off, I hoped I had at least planted the seed of doubt in his mind.
I have nothing against Jews for Jesus
I’m very much a live-and-let-live sort of person. Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. But I do object to their soft-touch proselytizing. Jews for Jesus is a cult, and like any other cult, they hone in on the weak, the vulnerable, the grieving, and the lost, of which at this time there are many here.
At my school, there was an ungainly, miserable girl, who would tell us all proudly, “Jesus loves me.” To which we would mutter, “No one else does.” Those drawn into the Jesus cult, or Yeshua as they call him, to make him more palatable to Jews, have not read nor studied scripture.
I don’t doubt that there was a Jewish itinerant rabbi called Jesus, or Yeshua, but he was not the Messiah. In fact, in my opinion Christianity is misnamed. It should be called Paulism, because Paul, in his zeal to attract gentile converts, formed Christianity. Gentile men understandably did not wish to be circumcised. So Paul said fine, there’s no need, just love Jesus. Gentiles didn’t want to conform to the dietary laws, so those restrictions were also discarded.
The Roman Empire was dissolving and losing its military control, but by converting to Christianity, they could regain political control. It is no accident that the Pope sits in Rome. And Christianity, as we know it today, owes a lot to Rome, Roman myths, and Roman gods.
It is ironic that in many Western Christian countries, faith is declining and churches are closing due to lack of congregants, while here in Israel we are seeing the insidious spread of Christianity under the guise of Jews for Jesus. Because that is what it is. Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Believe what you want but learn about it. Read the New Testament. Read the history of the early church. Go into this cult with your eyes open and not blinded by false promises of redemption in a historically vague savior figure. First learn about your own faith. And above all, stop trying to push your views on me. As in every transaction – buyer beware – or at least be aware.
The writer is an 88-year-old retired office administrator, living in sheltered accommodation, and still studying languages.