By Larry Rosenbaum
I was raised in a Jewish home. My family is not religious. In my teen years, I was allowed to believe whatever I wanted—as long as I didn’t believe in Jesus.
Jewish rabbis often justify their rejection of Jesus by quoting Moses Maimonides’ statement from the 12th century: “If a king arises from the house of David…defeats all the nations surrounding him, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, then he is surely the messiah. But if he does not succeed to this extent, or is killed, it is evident that he is not.”
The vast majority of Jews today are not religious. Many are atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists, and pagans. Among the observant Jews, the most dynamic group is the Lubavitch or Chabad movement. This movement began in 18th century Poland. Today they are found wherever there is a large community of Jews. In many places, at least half of the Orthodox (religious) rabbis are part of this group. They actively seek to recruit other Jews into their movement. They are active oon many college campuses. My niece, a graduate student at Harvard, became an orthodox Jew through their efforts.
The Lubavitch believe that the Messiah is coming very soon. Most believed that their latest leader, a Brooklyn, NY rabbi named Menachem Schneerson, was the Messiah —until he died in 1994. At that time, half decided he wasn’t the Messiah. The other half now believe either that his supposed death was an illusion or that he will be resurrected. Many also believe that he is God incarnate. At least 150 Jewish rabbis, including the Chief Rabbi of Russia and other prominent Jewish leaders, have signed a statement calling on all Jews to acknowledge Schneerson as the Messiah.
Last September, an article called “The Rebbe, the Jews, and the Messiah” was published in Commentary magazine. This is a highly respected Jewish publication. The author, David Berger, is professor of history at Brooklyn College. In this article, Berger asserts that the Jewish community must speak out against anyone who claims that Schneerson is the Messiah. They must remove these people from any position of leadership in the Jewish community. Otherwise, they will lose all credibility when they say that Jews cannot believe in Jesus and when they exclude believers in Jesus from leadership (or even membership) in Jewish synagogues and organizations.
“By continuing to recognize open messianists as Orthodox Jews in good standing,” Berger wrote, “we hereby affirm the full legitimacy of this belief. We award victory to Christianity in a crucial aspect of its millennial debate with Judaism….For Christian missionaries, Lubavitch messianism–and its effective legitimation by mainstream Orthodox Judaism–is an unanticipated, unearned, but priceless gift.”
Berger’s article has caused quite a stir in the Jewish community. However, as he admits, it is unlikely that Jewish leaders will take his advice. Instead, they will try to ignore the problem and their own double standard. Today, if a Jew believes that Menachem Schneerson is the Messiah, God incarnate, who died but will be resurrected, he can be a leader in the Jewish community, even the Chief Rabbi of Russia. However, if he believes these same things about Jesus, he is a traitor to Judaism.
