“Judaizing” and Christianity: Preservation of a Minority Trend
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

The following article traces the generations of “Judaizing” in Christian history. The phenomenon of “judaizing” within Christianity is not new. Though the term itself misleadingly insinuates something foreign to Christian civilisation, we shall however see that the opposite is true. "Judaizing is as old as Christianity itself, accompanying it in most of its religious incarnations, transitions and transformations. “Judaizing” is rather, a description of a pillar of Christianity’s cultural heritage. We shall observe that though “judaizing” has been rejected as a frowned upon phenomena within the Church, a study of its fortunes, will reveal that the times of great upheaval and reform were almost always accompanied by this phenomena. From the Church’s extreme politicisation and institutionalisation, through the Crusades, to its return to grass root spirituality, the phenomena of “judaizing” serves as a lense through which to observe, and even an active ingredient in, the dynamics of Christianity.

Issues Regarding Christian Missionary Activity towards the Jews
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

There are four areas of discussion in this paper. A. The doctrinal imperative of Christians to witness and missionise to Jews, together with a long and involved history of Church efforts in this regard, have created a culture and mindset which links into the soul of Christianity and the Christian understanding of “Israel”. Understanding its dynamic is essential to Jewish - Christian dialogue. B. The reaction of Jews to Christian missionary activity may be interpreted in various ways. The position of orthodox Jews, secular Jews, of the Israeli government and Jewish community leadership vary in minor ways. Despite extreme diversity amongst Jews in other respects, there is an overarching uniformity of opinion towards Christian missionary activity. This reaction is interesting and deserves investigation. C. Discussion of creative ways that Jews may view missionary activity. I posit that Judaism should not be offended or feel threatened by missionary activity. Too the contrary, it is consistent with and complimentary to a Jewish and halakhic view of Christianity. D. The emergence of various sociological phenomena from the Christian-Jewish dynamic includes hybrid Jewish-Christian communities.

The Land and the State of Israel in Christian Thought
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

The Land of Israel has played a role in the Christian tradition in many ways, both subtle and obvious, from the formation of the new religion until the present. It was the birthplace of Jesus, the Apostles, the early church fathers and many saints. Influences of language, culture and politics are inseparable from the content and significance of the Gospels. The Land was holy in the eyes of Jesus and the Apostles, in fact the highly charged sentiments surrounding the Land’s defeat by the Romans was the backdrop against which Jesus’ messiahship was raised and debated and disseminated to the Jewish diasporas and beyond. Many Gospel analogies are drawn from the Land particularly from agricultural habits peculiar only to Israel. The Temple, the centrality of pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the rites of ritual baptism, the Biblical feasts and the stories of the apostles while on the roads back and forth from Jerusalem, all indicate the intense relationship of the religion with the Land of Israel. The ability for Christianity to spread so quickly via the extensive network of Diaspora Jewish communities indicates the dependency of early Christianity’s success on the relationship of Jews to the Land of Israel.

The role of the Land of Israel is not limited to the early Church. Rather it has featured in the history of the Eastern and Western Church. Christianity has expressed its fascination with the Land of Israel as a spiritual nexus in the specific locality of the Holy Land by way of crusades, pilgrimages, art, music, poetry and modern political interests.

Changing Christian Attitudes to Judaism and Israel
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

Christian attitudes to Israel have changed over the last century due to several reasons caused by internal changes in the Church, external – historical changes in society and due to events that pertain to Judaism and Christianity as a relationship. Regarding the latter there are several important events: 1. The holocaust illustrated the effectiveness that anti-Jewish, Church sentiments had on German policy to exterminate European Jewry. After this came to light, a Church of good conscience was compelled to reconsider and re-articulate its policy towards the Jews. 2. The establishment of the State of Israel created a political reality that the various Christian denominations could not fairly ignore. Foreign countries recognised Israel paid her deference and made strategic pacts of great importance with her, the Church would also have to define her in some way, this could not avoid a theological dimension. In addition it evoked in some religious feelings and inspired some Christian people’s imagination to view it in a prophetic manner. Furthermore it created difficulties for Catholic doctrine that asserted the eternal homelessness of Jews and forced the Vatican to re-examinse its views. 3. The military success of Israel in 1967 could not be under-estimated for both Jewish and Gentile messianists. It attracted more eschatologically minded Christians to view the Zionist process in a Biblically prophetic light. This is compounded by growing messianic expectations amongst Christian groups towards the end of the Millennium. 4. The electoral victory of the more nationalistic Likud government over Labour was accompanied by a change in foreign policy. Menachem Begin started courting evangelical American Christians when more mainstream Churches would not back his hard line views and would not indulge his refusal to give up lands conquered by Israel. He actively sought alliances with American evangelical groups hoping they would support his efforts to hold onto Biblical lands. In this way he created an alternative alliance to the more mainstream Catholic and Protestant denominations. 5. The burgeoning of strong relationships between Christians and Jews both in a personal and religious capacity could not but serve to reflect itself on Church policy. This occurred against a backdrop of various ecumenical forums but occurred as a result of the general opening up of religious societies and a willingness to speak as equals. The willingness of Jews to discuss religion and ‘reachout’ to Gentiles was equally important as the need for Christians, in order for the process to work. Many have accused Jews of insularity that implied elitism or dislike for the stranger and contributed to a natural dislike of the culprit. Judaism’s very desire to dialogue with Christianity might have inspired reciprocity.

Proposal for a Course on Jewish – Christian Relations for Bnei Yeshivot
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

There are various reasons why it is desirable that religious Jewish students and future religious leaders take a greater interest in Jewish – Christian relations.

Historically, Christianity became more anti-Semitic as the rabbinic presence in Christian thinking disappeared. Jews, by ignoring Christianity and neglecting to comment or interpret the works of the New Testament, created a vacuum allowing these texts to be interpreted by people who had little understanding of Jewish culture and the historic context surrounding the life of Jesus and his disciples. As a result of this, Christianity adopted customs and beliefs that were intolerable to Judaism as well as being distinctly anti-Semitic. This was unfortunate considering that the early impetus for the movement had been inspired by essentially Jewish teachings. A religious discipline that was potentially subject to Jewish fundamentals was turned into an anti-Jewish instrument because Jewish leaders abandoned the theological arena to foreign elements.

As a rule, therefore, it seems better to train Jewish scholars to understand these texts so they ‘know to reply’ to those who continue to use the New Testament as an anti-Jewish polemic. As it is likely that some form of missionary encounter between Christians and Jews will continue to take place, it is preferable that the Jewish side is educated. It is preferable that missionaries argue with Jews imbued with a sense of their own culture and traditions than ignorant and susceptible Jews, there are no better-suited people for this than bnei yeshivot. Knowledge of the history of the period, the texts and theological issues along with the entirety of Jewish experience have proven that an educated religious Jew provides an unmatchable defence of Jewishness. In addition, the ability to present a convincing counter theology has often proven to change the engaged missionary’s views, by inspiring him with an insight into a uniquely Jewish spirituality, entirely unknown to his experience. Christian missionaries, for the most have an honest ignorance of Judaism and believe they can enrich the Jewish experience by their work. One may transform uncomfortable missionary activity into a learning experience for the Christian which can serve to improve Jewish – Christian relations, disarm missionaries and nurture friendship and respect in unlikely places.

A Jewish Theology of Christianity: And other Meditations on Jewish-Christian Relations
By M. Avrum Ehrlich

This work presents a Jewish – Halakhic viewpoint of Christianity. It weighs existing Christian positions against theoretical Christian positions and engages the possibility that Christianity could, in some of its incarnations, be an acceptable form of religious service, in the view of the Jewish faith. The work challenges the groundwork of the present Jewish-Christian relationship pointing out its essential flaws. It proposes a new framework for fruitful dialogue and active cooperation.