Customer Reviews

Real Messiah: A Jewish Response to Missionaries

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4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am dismayed at reading the misinterpretations of Aryeh Kaplan's work by Amazon reviewers.
I would like to make a few simple points in the hope of not insulting anyone.
The first is that the Jewish people today constitutes less than two tenths of one percent of mankind. Christians constitute one third of mankind, two billion people.
Historically millions of Jews have been persecuted and killed by Christians.
Jews do not make any kind of effort to convert Christians to Judaism. To become Jewish requires a long learning process and cannot be done overnight. Converts are initially discouraged , and are accepted only when they show great persistence.
On the other hand Jews are continually harassed by all kinds of groups who believe that they by saving us they are saving our souls. We would prefer for G-d to save our souls, and would appreciate being freed of this undue attention.
The Jewish people is struggling to survive in a time of heightened assimilation. It is a very small part of mankind. Therefore those who care for its continued existence should not be trying to whittle it down.
Therefore all that Aryeh Kaplan is doing is trying to keep Jews Jewish. He is not trying to interfere with Christians and Christianity.
Most Jews consider Christianity a sister monotheistic faith and care only to respect Christians and be respected by them.
I would add. One group which is particularly offensive to Jews is those who call themselves ' Messianic Jews'. They are people who are born Jewish and have become Christian. Becoming Christian is their free choice and right. It is a betrayal of their Judaism and Jewishness, but they have a right to make that choice. But claiming that they are still Jewish when doing this is an absolute immoral and hypocritical action. You have joined another religion so belong to that. There is no Jewish communal body or leader Orthodox ,Conservative Reform or Reconstructionist who considers such people to any longer be Jewish.
So the bottom line is . Please Christians respect us and allow us to live by our own faith. We respect you and believe our presence on this planet as Jews living by Jewish law in accordance with the teachings given to Moses at Sinai should not be of disturbance to you.

While this book is written for real Jews in order to help them keep their friends and family members away from the cults of Jews for Jesus and "messianic" Judaism, it is also filled with some of the most hilarious anti-Christian tracts ever written. Particularly important is the response of Rambam (12th century rabbi and important scholar) to potential converters that got him kicked out of Europe, and which still resonates today since Christians have yet to come up with any new reasons for converting, and a chapter entitled "behold the man" (sic?) in which the christian dogma of Christ as perfect man and utter fulfiller of the Torah (which is enigmatic at best) is placed next to some of the lesser known Bible passages to prove that not only was Christ not the Messiah but he was a lousy hypocritical human being had he really existed. After this I was inspired to look up Bible passages including his inciting his followers to murder in Luke 19:27, to find that Christ actually broke ALL TEN COMMANDMENTS. Way to go Jesus. If anyone is bothering you, trying to get you to come to their bible study, trying to prove that you need Jesus, buy them this book. You'll be glad you did.

While I respect the scholarship of Rabbi Kaplan and recommend his books, I think V'Da Mah SheTashiv: Know What To Answer (To Missionaries) A Thorough Jewish response To Missionaries is more direct and to the point

This book is published by the "Jews for Judaism" group. It contains 10 chapters and 3 appendices in the 58-page 1985 edition that was reprinted by Jews for Judaism in 2004.

Here are some quotations from this 2004 edition:

"Do not argue with missionaries; do not lend credence or dignity to their efforts at soul-snatching. There are tens of millions of non-practicing Christians in this country who are better targets for their efforts." (Pg. 1)
"It is impossible to imagine that G-d would ever reject the Jewish people. In many places, the Bible clearly states that His covenant with them will be forever." (Pg. 4)
"There are many punishments mentioned in regard to Adam and Eve... All of these conditions yet exist to this day, and anything tangible that can be evidenced, as the alleviation of any of these conditions, has yet to appear, since the advent of your messiah." (Pg. 24)
"If God has 'rejected' the Jews for not 'accepting Jesus' as Christians claim, why have we managed to survive 2,000 years of Christian persecution? ... How do (Christians) explain the fact that the Jewish people has re-established its national life in its ancient homeland, and is in possession of the City of Jerusalem?" (Pg. 31)
"What Jesus is implying (in the parable of the Good Samaritan) is that every Jew, even a religious leader, is incapable of even a simple act of mercy." (Pg. 40)

I came about this book when a co-worker literally attacked me with a passage from Issiah and a family friend gave me this book when i talked about the incident.

I can honestly say it was one of the first religiously oriented Jewish based book i ever read. It is amazing at how simple, yet intellectual Kaplan develops his arguments. I believe a lot of this comes from Kaplan's physics background. No doubt, Kaplan's physics background allowed him to develop clear arguments that even a secular person has to respect.

After reviewing some of the lower reviews, I understand why they dislike the book. Kaplan's arguments are so compelling and complete that the only way to argue them is to argue that everything in Judaism is false, which makes a tricky argument for Christians who hold some facets/concepts of Judaism.

This is one of the best anti-missionary books I've ever read! Not only does it disprove the claims that Jesus was the messiah, but it does so by using the New Testament. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the truth about Christianity.

A few of the other reviewers of this book suggest that we should "look at the facts" and consider other viewpoints. I couldn't agree more. The facts about Jesus are laid out in crystal-clear terms, along with citations for the sceptical. And the facts clearly show that--if the "Old" Testament is supposed to be the guide to what the messiah will be like--then Jesus just can't be the messiah. As a non-christian (and non-Jew) who nevertheless has a strong interest in the Christ, I thought the book was a little hard on the Nazarene, ignoring as it does some of the truly wise and powerful teachings he offered (such as the Sermon on the Mount). What this book does show, to me, is that Jesus was fallible and human, however extraordinary he may have been. If we can stop twisting our minds out of shape by trying to pretend that Jesus was God, however, maybe we can begin to see him as a more interesting and important figure.
This is a great book, of interest not just to Jews.

GREAT explanation of why Jews don't believe in J.C.
Christian or non-Christian, this book will provide a great deal of insight.

As a Christian I want to understand how other groups feel about my position. I ordered this book thinking it would give insight that I had never noticed. I found this book to be somewhat embarrassing, if it is to reflect the opinion of Judaism. The Jews are very intelligent people, this book however is not. The reasons given that refute Jesus as the messiah are first grade material. This book is not what it claims, I have debated with many Jews that offered more credible rebuttal.
Robert Coleman

While written by an Orthodox rabbi, this book is relevant to all Jews.

The truth for Jews all over the world (even in Israel!) is, you or your children will be approached by missionaries, in the workplace, at college, at the park, on your doorstep. If you want to immunize yourselves and your children, you need to have intellectually honest and rigorous answers. This book really helps you do that.

There is another book that I'd read alongside this volume to be more thorough and address more of the tactics currently used by missionaries. That's this book Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus. It's available through Amazon and at many Jewish bookstores.