Judaism and Christianity part 1: Folding Napkins, Keeping Shabbos and Suppressing Isaiah
Q. I’m a pastor in my community. For many years I’ve heard that when someone is finished eating, they fold their napkin if they are planning to return. This comes from the napkin that Jesus laid separately in his tomb. Is there any truth to this? Thank you.
A. Thanks for your question. I'm not sure if you're aware, but you've written to an Orthodox Jewish web site. The Gospel of John (where this story appears) is not part of our theology. I can tell you that there's no such practice in Judaism.
---------------------------------------------------------
Q. Hello, I'm not Jewish but I'm trying to follow the Bible and have been keeping the Sabbath. I'm wondering, is it the same for a gentile? I don't have a church, I just started reading the Bible a couple of years ago. I'm on my second read now. I've given up pork and never liked seafood. I just need some guidance. I watch some Seventh Day Adventist on TV, but I get confused. They drive on the Sabbath, you don't. Just different little things. Can I pet my pets? I have 10 cats and a puppy. I'm in a wheelchair. I read that you can't push a wheelchair on the Sabbath because that is the same as carrying. I'm 69, sometimes I need help being pushed. Am I causing my grandson to sin by asking him to help me up my ramp on Sabbath? Thank you for whatever you can help me with.
A. Thanks for your question; my answer may surprise you. Under Jewish law, non-Jews may observe most Jewish practices. If you want to keep kosher, feel free! If you want to celebrate Chanukah, go right ahead! But Shabbos (the Sabbath) is a rare exception. According to Jewish law, non-Jews are not allowed to keep the Sabbath, at least not in the way we do. (This is because of verses like Exodus 31:13, which describe the Sabbath as a sign between God and the Jewish people.) So we may not drive on the Sabbath, but that doesn't mean that you can't. We might not push a wheelchair in an unenclosed area on the Sabbath, but it's certainly not sinful for your grandson to do so. You can observe the Sabbath as the Seventh Day Adventists do, or you can simply follow your own conscience in the matter. You need not be concerned about Jewish practice because, according to Jewish law, you shouldn't follow Jewish practice in this matter anyway!
--------------------------------------------------------------
Q. I have a question. I recently watched a video where a previously Jewish man who converted to Christianity stated that Jewish scriptures do not contain chapter 53 of Isaiah. Is this true? I genuinely want to learn about the Jewish faith. Jesus was Jewish and I'm Catholic so I think it's a good idea to learn as much as possible.
A. Thank you for your question. It's a common misconception among certain Christian groups (as well as an outright lie among those who justify committing "pious frauds") that the Jews somehow "suppress" Isaiah 53. A look into any Jewish Bible will reveal that this is simply not the case. Rather than omitting it entirely, however, most of the claims that we "suppress" it are based on the fact that we don't read it as part of our services. Each week, we read a section from the Torah plus a supplemental reading from the Prophets (called "haftarah"). The reading from the Prophets is thematically connected either to the content of the Torah reading or to a holiday that falls that week. Not every chapter of Prophets is read in the synagogue; after all, there are 54 Torah portions and more than 300 chapters in the Books of the Prophets!
Isaiah 53 is what Christians refer to as "the suffering servant." It is considered a prooftext for the future suffering of Jesus. Not only do Jews not understand the chapter as referring to Jesus, we don't see it as a messianic prophecy as all! (Throughout the book of Isaiah, "My servant" refers to the nation of Israel; we see the chapter as foretelling the future suffering of the Jewish people. Nowhere in the OT is the messiah referred to as God's "servant.") So this is a chapter of exceptional significance for Christians; they would certainly include it in a collection of Scripture readings. But Jews understand the chapter very differently, and our emphasis is accordingly going to be different. If Isaiah 53 corresponded to a weekly Torah portion, it would have been included as a reading from the Prophets; it doesn't, so it wasn't. But it's in all our Bibles, between Isaiah 52 and 54, right where one would expect it to be!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Q. Can we earn eternal life by our good works?
A. We don't use that particular terminology but yes, that's the general idea.
Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.