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The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction

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The subtitle of this book is "An Introduction" and I think it is aptly named. For the interested non-specialist, Wylen lucidly explains the opinions and debates of interpreters and scholars in the many fields touching on this subject. He convincing places Jesus as a Jew in the context of the great diversity of Jewish practices and beliefs in the first century. He demonstrates the evolution of ideas such as the physical resurrection of the dead and the concept of an immortal soul. Sources discussed include the apochrypha, pseudepigrapha, the apocalyptic writings, Philo, the New Testament, Josephus, and the Misnah and the Talmud.

I have read other works that touched on some of these subjects, but what impresses me about this book is it's readability and clarity.

Knowledge of the Jewish faith is essential to any serious study of the Christian scriptures. Stephen Wylen's THE JEWS IN THE TIME OF JESUS is an essential tool in understanding the Judaism of the days of Jesus Christ. The book is written in a manner that is both academic and personal. The author is a rabbi by profession but also has a keen understanding of Christianity. His writings are meant to educate Christian readers about Judaism but at time it also confronts misconceptions about Judaism.

The topics in the book include historical details regarding the Greeks, Romans, the Maccabees, etc. While this information is informative, it is not the book's greatest strength which can be found in the way the author paints a picture of Jewish life at the time of Jesus. Rabbi Wylen pays close attention to the various groups within Judaism: The Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, as well as the other figures we find in the gospel. The book helps the reader get a sense of the world of Jesus' day and the audience to whom Jesus spoke. The information about Jewish rituals and festivals is also helpful. The book also contains a great deal of information about the Temple and its history, including the revolts which led to the break between Christianity and Judaism. This information is critical in understanding the differences between the two great faiths. We also get some wonderful information about the great rabbis of Jesus' day and in the years of early Christianity.

The book is easy to read and can be used as a quick reference for people involved in preaching, Bible study, or religious education. The book has an informative bibliography which includes editorial comments by the author. While some readers may disagree with some of his opinions, they are still helpful as Christians and Jewish people try and come to an understanding of each other.

Rabbi Wylen is, himself, something of an extraordinarilly ecumenical individual: a Jew occasionally teaching at a Catholic University. It comes as no surprise, then, that he has written an extraordinarilly ecumenical text. Reviewing a wide variety of sources Wylen displays an encyclopedic knowledge of Jewish life, law, and practices during the period of the Second Temple. He firmly places Jesus of Nazareth within the context of normal, first century, Galilean, Jewish experience.

Rabbi Wylen's work would seem to be of the greatest value for Christian non-scholars seeking to better understand the circumstances surrounding the earthly life of the one whom they worship. Rabbi Wylen exposes widely held myths, long promulgated by ignorant preachers (e.g.: the "lex talio" was no longer practiced in the first century), and helps us to better understand particularly difficult passages of the New Testament (e.g.: the Palm Sunday Gospel appears to include practices reserved for Sukkoth). In the process he more clearly illuminates the Gospel and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.

This is a wonderful book for those who are serious about Biblical scholarship: who do not mind having their assumptions challenged. If you want to be comfortable, buy another book. If you want to learn, purchase this one.

Stephen Wylen's book, "The Jews in the Time of Jesus" is another important work in the ongoing situation of Judaeo-Christian relations. For me, it was another stepping stone to understanding the roots of my Christian faith.

Wylen gives the reader a good understanding of the religious, cultural and political scenes at the time of Christ. Although early on in his book Mr. Wylen stated, in light of the often delicate sensibilites on both sides, that he would attempt to present a dispassionate work, I was actually pleased to see his dispassion sprouting up at times into opinion. For me, those opinions are the support rails on the bridges to understanding. They are things upon which I can grasp hold and keep moving forward. This book was valuable to me, and I recommend it to Christians who not only seek to understand their Jewish roots, but who wish to add to their understanding of what it means to be Jewish in a largely Christian world.

Did I disagree with some of the things put forth in this work? Yes. But it didn't prevent me from enjoying the work and appreciating the reason for the book to be.

I thoroughly enjoyed this title. Although I am no Christian scholar, I am well informed about my faith in Jesus. I think that this book has given me improved insight into the faith that a Jew who lived in Jesus' era might have had.

`Jews in the Time of Jesus' by rabbi Stephen M. Wylen is both more and less than what I wanted when I was searching for a book on exactly the subject stated in the title. It was far more than what I wanted in a description of the state of the Jews at the time Jesus lived.

It covers an outline of Jewish history roughly from the successful revolt of the Maccabees against the Seluccid (Persian) empire in around 168 BCE and the beginnings of the Second Temple era to the failed revolt against the Romans around 70 CE and the Romans' total distruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In brief, it covers Jews throughout the era of the Second Temple, but also gives glimpses of the Jews who wrote the canonical works comprising `the law and the prophets' and of the much later rabbinical tradition which created the Talmud. In doing so, the author characterizes Jewish society in the first century CE to speculate from what elements the new `Christian' sect arose and specifically the character of Jesus himself. All of this makes me especially happy I picked this book based almost exclusively on the strength of the title.

The greatest lesson I gained from the book is the realization that the Jews of 30 CE were much different than the Jews of today either in the Temple down the street or in a Temple in modern Jerusalem. Second Temple Judaism was strongly oriented towards `the Law' of the Torah, but not nearly so strongly as it became under the rabbis and the Talmud. Judaism of this age was remarkable to us in both its similarities and dissimilarities to the religions of Greece, Mesopotamia, and Egypt surrounding it. It was similar in that it attributed extraordinary importance to the one great Temple in Jerusalem and in the importance it placed on animal sacrifice, so common in the surrounding `syncretic' religions. This picture alone clarifies to me what early Jewish writers meant by `pagans' without so much as a bone of explanation about what the `pagan' religion was. It also clears up a mystery I've encountered in more scholarly books regarding a class of `God-fearers', people who professed belief in the Hebrew god, but who were not Hebrews either by nationality or by adherence to the Law of the Torah. This group becomes extremely important in the history of Christianity.

A second important lesson is the author's picture of Judaism in the early first century. I can't help but compare it to the situation in evolutionary theory where a rapid change in environment leads to a proliferation of new species. Just at the time when the Roman rule and the rule by their client monarchs, the line of Herod the Great became onerous, Judaism fractured into several different sects. The most important were the Sadduces, the Pharisees (split into a camp founded by Hillel, more liberal and tolerant, and a camp founded by Shammai, more strict on points of law), the Essenes (John the Baptist was an Essene), the `God-Fearers', and followers of Jesus, at first known as `the Son of Man'. Christianity's most important missionary, Paul of Tarsus was, it is believed, a follower of Shammai before his conversion. Modern Judaism fully developed from the Pharisees following Hillel around 400 CE, with the assembly of the Talmud.

Another important aspect of the book is that although the author is not giving us a scholarly work, he offers an excellent roadmap to research done on this period and issue throughout the last 2000 years, concentrating on scholarship in the last 200 years. The one source that stands out is E. P. Sanders who also plays such a big role in describing the role of Judaism in the background and theology of Paul.

The one thing I miss in this book is the fact that it spends very little time discussing theological differences. I take away from this book the fact that Martin Luther may not have been as far off the mark as some people paint him in comparing the Jews of Paul's epistles as similar to the indulgence-selling Roman Catholics of Luther's day. The importance of sacrifices at the Temple can't be missed. And, the central importance of following the Law also can't be missed. There is not a lot to go on here, but the book does seem to strengthen the case that Paul's theology may have had a strong Hellenistic influence. This book simply does not address that issue very well.

This book gains value by being a popular survey rather than a scholarly treatment; however, it did not devote quite as much time to scholarly accuracy and fact checking as it should have. Two errors stand out. The first is the ambiguity in the use of the terms Hellenic and Hellenistic. Strictly speaking, before Alexander, one uses the former term to describe Greek culture. After Alexander, one uses the latter term to describe Greek culture in the states founded by Alexander's generals. The author uses them as if they were synonyms, but they are clearly not the same. The second error is that the author omits the name of Marcus Aurelius from his list of Roman Emperors and misspells the name of Aurelius' son, Commodus, who succeeded him (Didn't he get out to see `Gladiator'!). Didn't the copy editor notice the glaring 7-year gap in the reign of emperors! In themselves, these errors are minor, but two simple errors I caught suggest there may be others I didn't catch.

Overall, if you are interested in this subject, I recommend the book as a worthy starting point (note that the book is subtitled `An Introduction'). This popular treatment doesn't forgive the errors, but it does warn us that if you want to do serious research on this topic, go on to works in the author's bibliography before starting to write your paper!

Wylen is right about one thing. We live in an age of academic specialization. Unfortunately, Christian scholars who have mastered the requisite modern European languages and Greek and Latin are usually unable to master all the Semitic languages needed to know the huge Judaic corpus. When Wylen speaks of Judaism, the book is edifying. Unfortunately, there were a couple of minor comments about Christianity that left me scratching my head. This makes me wonder a little about the integrity of the rest of the book (forgive me for not giving an example). It is a great introduction to the subject, with much information I wish I had learned in undergrad and grad school. So this work fills a knowledge gap for Christians, or more accurately, a perspective gap. Knowing how Jews view their history is an essential perspective. The author is well read on the subject of Judaism being a Rabbi. I enjoy reading a book for popular consumption by an author who has digested many tomes I have not had time to read. I recommend it with just a little reservation.

Rabbi Wylen gives a good overall view of the influence of the times and the state of affairs leading up to and just after the time of Jesus. There are a couple errors in dates which can be confusing for the novice. (That would be me.)

I also would have liked to see an appendix with an overall timeline in it. I'm a visual person and that would have helped me, though others might not miss it. I went to other sources for the visual timeline and pasted a copy into the back of the book for my own use. That let me make notes and changes as I needed to follow the points in the book.

A very worthwhile read.

This is indeed a good book for the non-scholar who wishes to disentangle some of the history relating to the time of Jesus. It does not assume that the reader has great knowledge of the subject.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wylen resorts too easily to labels (The pious believe this, the irreligious believe that). He dismisses some interpretations as "legends" without corroboration, usually the ones he obviously disagrees with. His views about Christianity are too biased for my taste - while constantly decrying Christian bias against Judaism. In fact, I am left with the impression that he believes that any criticim of Judaism is "prejudice", as if it were impossible that at times Judaism, too, needed reform and that Jews, too, have treated others unpleasantly. For instance, Christians have oppressed Jews, but Christians only "felt" oppressed by Jews. Meaning that the Jewish majority at no time oppressed Christians in the time of Jesus, but the Christians sect within Judaism only "felt" oppressed.

He takes it upon himself to define the difference between "anti-Judaism" and "anti-Semitism", but fails to adhere to his own definitions. As a result, Christians behaved "anti-semitically" even before the term was coined! Similarly, his comments in the Recommended Reading section make a point of recording his views that such-and-such an excellent book is tainted by prejudice. This reader finds it hard to believe that all criticism of Judaism is prejudiced and unjustified, while all criticism of Christianity is warranted and legitimate. (However, let me hasten to add that this in no way is intended to suggest that Christians very often failed towards their Jewish brothers.)

As a non-Christian, Mr. Wylen understandably rejects some fundamental Christian views. However, I would suggest that Mr. Wylen does not have as good a grasp of the reasons for the point of view of "the other side" as he claims, and that he carefully cultivates a low-key standoffish posture.

The book contains some useful basic historical information but does not further interfaith dialogue.

This book is now fifteen years old, but it remains one of my favorites, and I wanted to share it. Stephen Wylen is a rabbi at Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne, NJ, and I so enjoyed his book that I asked him to contribute a back-cover blurb for my own book. He did even more: he contributed a full review: [...]. I'm indebted to him, but luckily, his is an easy book to recommend.

Jesus was a Palestinian Jew, and this book does a great job of describing the world Jesus lived in. His world can hardly be understood without some background of Jewish history, both political and religious. The two are interrelated: As the Jews were surviving the period of the Maccabees and Hellenistic integration, they were also seeing the age of prophecy transition into Messianism and Apocalypticism. Wylen spends a great deal of time discussing first-century Judaism: the Synagogue, Sabbath observance, ritual purity, and so on. Jewish understanding of God, Satan, Logos, and their practice of prayer and worship differed from neighboring nations, but did not escape subtle influences. Judaism itself was also fragmented, between Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots and Pharisees.

Wylen also discusses the trial of Jesus. From what the Mishnah tells us about Jewish law there are some problems with the trial story as it stands. For example, the gospels say that the Sanhedrin found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, yet none of Jesus' words or deeds are blasphemous according to Jewish law. Nor could Jesus have been tried on a capital offense in the manner told in the gospel. According to the Mishnah there were many judicial rules designed to protect defendants accused of a capital crime. The trial had to be held before a full court. The sentencing and hearing had to occur during daylight hours. They could not convict on the day of the trial, as described.

For these reasons and more, Wylen concludes Jesus must have been tried by a kangaroo court called together by the high priest Caiaphas, acting on orders from the Romans. Pilate then convicted Jesus of being a revolutionary and sentenced him to crucifixion, just as he slaughtered numerous other innocent Jews.

Wylen delves into why Jesus was killed, whether Pilate was guilty or innocent, how the crowd felt about Jesus, and how much of the passion story is historically true. An excellent and informative book, written in an easy-to-understand style.