By Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
July 8, 2007
 Bookmark to del.icio.us
It is now official. Pope Benedict XVI has removed restrictions on saying an old Latin Mass which calls for the conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity and for their being delivered "from their darkness." The Pope indicated that there is nothing wrong with this prayer, and as the Associated Press reported, he wrote: "What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful" ("Pope Relaxes Restrictions for Latin Mass" by Nicole Winfield, July 7, 2007).
We, the people who received the Torah and its interpretations, do not share the Christian perspective of the Pope, and given the differences in our beliefs, it is not appropriate for us to tell the Pope how Christians should pray. What is appropriate is for us to become more aware of the major differences between Judaism and Christianity, so that we and the Gentiles who share our beliefs can have a deeper understanding of why we are not in need of conversion to Christianity.
We proclaim twice a day the following proclamation of the Divine oneness and unity: "Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One!" (Deuteronomy 6:4). According to the classical biblical commentator, Rashi, when we proclaim "Hashem is One," we are proclaiming that in the future all the peoples of the earth will recognize the unity and oneness of Hashem, and Rashi cites the following Divine promises:
"For then I will change the peoples to speak a pure language, so that they will all proclaim the Name of Hashem, to serve Him with a united resolve" (Zephaniah 3:9). And it is written:
"On that day Hashem will be One and His Name One" (Zechariah 14:9).
When we proclaim that Hashem is One, we are also proclaiming that we are to only serve the One and Unifying Creator of the Universe. In this spirit, the Divine voice proclaimed at Mount Sinai, "You shall not have other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). And it is also written, "Know it today and take it to heart repeatedly that Hashem alone is God; in heaven above and on earth below -- there is none other" (Deuteronomy 4:39). It is therefore forbidden for us to deify any object, force, or being, including a human being. In fact, the Torah tells us that "God is not a man" (Numbers 23:19).
Christians deified a Jewish man who lived over 2,000 years ago; moreover, they pray to or through the man they view as their Lord and Savior. We, however, remember the following Divine proclamation:
"I, only I, am Hashem, and there is no Savior aside from Me." (Isaiah 43:11).
This is why we follow the original teachings of our patriarchs and matriarchs who taught us to pray directly to Hashem, the Compassionate One. In fact, all the great biblical figures prayed directly to the Compassionate One. This is how the Torah taught us to pray, and anyone who reads the Book of Psalms can discover the Torah approach to prayer.
There is a Christian folk song which contains the words, "Give me that old-time religion." The song mentions that if the "old-time religion" was good enough for Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and a host of biblical figures, "it is good enough for me." From the perspective of the Torah, however, those who pray directly to Hashem like we do are the ones who are truly in the spirit of that "old-time religion," for they are emulating Abraham, Sarah, and all the great biblical figures.
We therefore need to remember that "Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon him sincerely" (Psalm 145:18). A classical biblical commentator, Radak, explains that this verse is revealing that the Compassionate One is close to "all" who call upon Him, "regardless of nationality." In other words, you don't have to be Jewish in order to experience the loving closeness of the Compassionate One!
According to the classical Christian belief expressed in the revived Mass, there is no hope for our souls unless we accept the one they call their Lord and Savior. The following story can serve as an example of this Christian belief: When the State of Israel captured Eichman, a leading Nazi murderer, the Israeli government assigned the Reverend William Hall, a Canadian missionary living in Jerusalem, to serve as his chaplain. Hall later told the press that had this murderer of Jewish men, women, and children accepted his "Savior" before he was executed, he would have immediately entered the gates of paradise. Hall was then asked, "And what of the souls of his six million Jewish victims?" Hall replied that they would certainly not have entered paradise, for they had not accepted the Church's "salvation." (Cited in the ArtScroll book, "Once Upon a Shtetl," by Chaim Shapiro)
We, the people who received the Torah, have a different view regarding entry into the heavenly paradise: The heaven of our God has lots of room, and any human being who is a "chassid" -- a person who is lovingly devoted to serving the Creator -- can enter the gates of paradise. As our sages state:
"The chassidim among the nations have a share in the World to Come." (Tosefta -- Sanhedrin 13:1)
Contrary to the Christian claim, we recognize that the man they view as their "Savior" is not the promised Messiah, for he did not fulfill the prophecies regarding the Messiah that are outlined in chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah and in other chapters within our Sacred Scriptures. According to these prophecies, the Messiah will gather in all the exiles of Israel, and he will inspire all human beings to return to the Compassionate One. His arrival will inaugurate an era of universal peace and spiritual enlightenment, "for the earth will be filled with knowledge of Hashem as water covering the sea bed" (Isaiah 11:9). In addition, the Temple will be rebuilt, and it will be known as, "a house of prayer for all the peoples" (Isaiah 56:7). These prophecies have not yet been fulfilled; thus, we await the true Messiah who will redeem Israel and all humankind.
The revived Latin Mass implies that we, the Jewish people, need to go to the Christians in order to find God. The Prophet, Zechariah, however proclaimed a very different message:
Thus said Hashem, God of the hosts of creation: In those days, it will happen that ten men, of all the languages of the nations, will take hold, they will take hold of the corner of the garment of a Jewish man, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you' " (Zechariah 8:23).
We therefore yearn for the era when all the peoples of the earth will become our spiritual allies, and the following prophecy will be fulfilled:
"It will happen in the end of days: The mountain of the Temple of Hashem will be firmly established as the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go and say, 'Come, let us go up to the Mountain of Hashem, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.' For from Zion will go forth Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2: 2,3).
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
