Jesus in the eyes of the American Jewish population in the 21st Essay

Jesus in the eyes of the Ameri put up Jewish population in the 21st century - Essay ExampleA discussion of Ameri notify Jewish attitudes towards Jesus can sensibly start with the sm every(prenominal) ( further growing) sect of Judaism called Messianic Judaism which believes that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Messianic Jews claim 47,000 pursuit and 280 congregations worldwide by the turn of the Twenty-First century (Kaplan, 2005). The idea that Jesus was the Messiah is seen as antithetic to the vast majority of American Jews. Kaplan succinctly states the problem that they perk up with the Messianic adherentsChristianity, which is perceived to be inappropriate with any form of Jewishness . . . .Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely spurned by the majority of Jews.Thus Messianic Jews regard themselves as a culmination of Judaism rather than a branch of Christianity. Even their very claim to being Jewish has been rejected by nearly all J ewish denominations, organizations and the State of Israel itself. This is remarkable as Jews have been consistent throughout their history in being, as a whole, a tolerant religion used to adapting to various kinds of creed within their religion. The line that cannot be crossed, as far as most Jews are concerned, is regarding Jesus as the Messiah.It would thus seem that a majority of American Jews will not regard Jesus as the Messiah in the ordinal Century, even though their Messianic brethren would claim this as a fact. The Central Conference of American Rabbis puts the smear in contextFor us in the Jewish community, any iodine who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate. Through that belief she has placed herself outside the Jewish community. Whether she cares to define herself as a Christian or as a fulfilled Jew, Messianic Jew, or any other designation is irrelevant to us, she is clearly a Christian.(Harris-Shapiro, 1999) several(prenominal) ha ve even related Messianic Judaism with an attempt to convert Jews, which is in reality an attempt to write down Judaism through being a wolf in sheeps clothing. Or, to mix the metaphor, Messianic Judaism is seen as a fifth column Horse within this argument, designed to topple Judaism from within. Again, it is American Jews who seem to take this argument to its most natural conclusions... Except in relations with Christians, the Christ of Christianity is not a Jewish issue. There simply can be no dialogue worthy of the name unless Christians accept - nay, treasure - the fact that Jews through the 2 millennia of Christianity have had an agenda of their own. There can be no Jewish-Christian dialogue worthy of the name unless one Christian activity is abandoned, missions to the Jews. It must be abandoned, moreover, not as a temporary strategy but in principle, as a bi-millennial theological mistake. The cost of that mistake in Christian love and Jewish blood one hesitates to contemp late. ... A post-Holocaust Jew can still view Christian attempts to convert Jews as open and well intended. But even as such they are no longer acceptable they have become attempts to do in one way what Hitler did in another.(Fackenheim, 1987) (my emphasis)The idea that Christians trying to convert Jews to their religion, which a good deal seems to