Annual “Christmas Talk” Shabbat Shemot 2021
Our motto, at one time, used to be “Moving Tradition Forward.” One of the oldest traditions of our synagogue is my annual “Christmas Sermon” and I try to move forward our discussion of Christianity every year.
In all the spaces from which we rented, from our inception in December 1993 until 2008, there was always a Christmas tree in the room. At our first service, we were in a church on the Shabbat before Christmas, replete with a beautiful Christmas tree. I made a decision to speak to the topic instead of past it, for a few reasons. First, most Jews have only a caricature understanding of Christian faith. As I have taught over the years, I have constantly heard well-meaning people say less than thoughtful things about Christianity. Since Jews often times think about Christianity and sometimes have a lot to say on the topic, it is well that we think in an informed way and speak accurately.
Secondly, we are blessed to have many Christians in our community (usually, thought not always, through intermarriage), and all of us have family members and friends who are Christian. We have a large number of Jews by Choice at Ohr HaTorah, perhaps up to a third or more of our membership. The topic of Christianity, therefore, must be treated with care and thoughtfulness.
Third, and probably most deeply, my own spiritual path has been shaped by my readings of Christian thinkers. For example, all I knew about Martin Luther before I began college was that he led the Reformation and that he was anti-Jewish. That was just about all a Jew needed to know, where I came from. Then, I was assigned to read Luther in my “History of Christian Thought” class. I was touched to the bone when I read Luther on grace. I had really never thought about this religious concept. “Grace,” I thought, was a Christian idea, therefore we Jews should stay away. We should focus on “justice” instead.
Once I studied this idea in Luther and other Christian sources, I realized that “grace” (chen in Hebrew), was all over the Bible, Rabbinic Literature and the Siddur (prayerbook). I realized I had to work out a theory of grace from a Jewish perspective. That process of thinking about grace gave shape to my experience of God and I grew as a person immensely.
As my studies progressed, and I read Paul Tillich, Rudolph Bultmann, Karl Barth, Helmut Gollwitzer, and a host of other Christian thinkers, I realized that reading Christian thinkers made me think about Judaism with new questions, with a new set of eyes. My studies in Christianity have been transformative in how I see Judaism, because those studies made me look at things that were obvious in hindsight, but that I never noticed before. I am a better Jew because of those studies. Each year, I want to share some of those riches with you.
This year I want to focus on two things: How a Jewish apocalyptic preacher from 1st century Judea became the foundation of one of the world’s great religions, and, if we have time, why the resurrection of Jesus became such a key theme in early and subsequent Christian thought.
My study and teaching of Christianity match the way I study and teach Judaism. I do not take the text as the literal word of God. I am always interested in the origins of texts, how texts become “scripture,” and how theology develops over time. This approach is of course diametrically opposite of the approach taken by evangelical Christians of their religion and the Orthodox Jewish understanding of Judaism.
Once we put issues of a literal reading of the text and theological conformity aside, we can ask questions of meaning, the deeper message contained in any text and belief system. From this perspective, every religion responds to the human condition and has its own way of addressing the human condition. The “meaning path” will guide my discussion of Christianity.
Rabbi Finley
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