Are Jewish people that celebrate Christmas called, Completed Jews?

Question

I was overhearing a Jewish guy at the bank talking about what he was going to get his kids for Christmas. My sister said that Jewish people that celebrate Christmas like to be called completed Jews.

Answer 1

NOTE ON MESSIANIC JUDAISM/JEWS FOR JESUS
Both of these are deemed as nothing more than Christian sects using deceitful means to convert Jews. EVERY Jewish denomination denounces these sects as Christians and nothing more. However, by Jewish law, once a Jew, always Jew- whether born or converted. Thus once a person is Jewish they are always judged by Jewish standards, and if they revert/convert to a different religion they are still considered Jewish by Jewish law. BUT, someone practising a religion other than Judaism is considered outside of the community, may not be a member of the community, receive any community honours, be a representative for the community, be buried in a Jewish cemetary, marry a Jew or be treated as a Jew for the purposes of the laws of mourning. However, since they never stop being a Jew- they merely have to repent, return to Judaism and go to mikveh in order to once again be a full member of the community.

But, there are those who do not believe in Jesus who enjoy Christmas as a secular holiday (in the Conservative and Reform communities- in the Orthodox community this is completely out)

Answer 2

I don't know why a Jewish person would want to celebrate Christmas except for it being a social holiday, as it really has nothing to do with Jesus. The feasts that God ordained, the ones the Jews already observe are complete pictures of Jesus- it is coming to the realization that they are, that Jesus is the Messiah they had been waiting for- that understanding is what makes them complete. I know many Jews who have accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah and they still would not touch Christmas with a ten foot pole- it was originally a pagan celebration of false gods that was adopted by Christianity for political and rebellious rasons. It is pretty much accepted today as a Christian observance even though most of the pagan trappings and trimmings still stand, but why would one that has the real thing, the genuine , give that up for something counterfeit??

Answer 3

Jewish people who celebrate Christmas are called Christians. Jews do not celebrate Christmas, just as they do not celebrate Ramadan, Buddah's Birthday or the holidays of other religions. Christmas is especially inappropriate as it was often used as an excuse to engage in the traditional European practise of killing the neighboring Jews or driving them out of town.

Jews who put up lights, have a tree, give presents and thereby turn Christmas into just another secular holiday are degrading the religious beliefs of their Christian friends and turning someone else's religious observance into crass commercialism. We'd all be better off it they'd skip it.

Answer 4

A completed Jew is actually a Jew who has asked Jesus into his/her heart If they celebrate Jesus, then they would celebrate Christmas. Without believing in Jesus as the Messiah, Jews have no reason to celebrate "Christmas" or the birth of Jesus.

Answer 5

Your sister is mistaken. Jews who celebrate Christmas like to call themselves atheists. There are many secular Jews. Just because they enjoy Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny doesn't make them Christian, or does it......
.

Answer 6

Maybe this Jewish individual is married to a Christian and they celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah. Maybe he's Catholic. (I am Catholic and don't mean that in a degrading way at all. There are Catholics out there who studied Judiasm and wear Yammakas(sp?) and practice much of the Jewish culture in addition to the Catholic culture.)

Answer 7

Jews that have converted to Christianity sometimes call themselves "completed Jews", for some strange reason.

I have never heard of a Christian that converted to Islam a "completed Christian" or a Muslim that converted to Christianity a "completed Muslim"

but if a Jew celebrates Christmas I guess he would be called a faker.

Answer 8

Many Jews will celebrate Christmas solely due to cultural pressures, mainly from their kids (not the kids' fault, of course). Some will celebrate it in some form because they like the smell of pine trees, candles, decorations, etc.

However--the "completed Jews" of whom you speak--also called "Messianic Jews"--are **not** Jews by any definition; certainly they are not considered Jewish by any other Jew! I've put a bit of a summary here below; it's specifically about "Jews for Jesus" but applies equally well to any similar version:

This is taken from the reference section of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_for_Jesus

1. “"We believe that Jewishness is a birthright. It is inherited from our parents. Our people are not of one culture; we have diverse cultural expressions (Ashkenazi/Sephardi, Georgian/Russian, Ethiopian, Persian, etc.). Our people are not of one religion. While Judaism might be the traditional religion for many Jewish people, Jews are still considered Jewish even though they might be atheists or even if they embrace other beliefs. Those who say that Jews who believe in Jesus are errant Jews or misguided Jews are entitled to their opinions. But they are not entitled to negate our Jewishness. We are Jews by birth and that cannot change."
2. "There is virtual unanimity across all denominations [of Judaism] that Jews for Jesus are not Jewish." (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, pp. 139-140).
3. "For most American Jews, it is acceptable to blend some degree of foreign spiritual elements with Judaism. The one exception is Christianity, which is perceived to be incompatible with any form of Jewishness. Jews for Jesus and other Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely rejected by the majority of Jews". (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, p. 9).
4. Jewish groups:
o "To make the record clear, Jews for Jesus is a Christian missionary organization – period." Jews for Jesus: Jewish or Christian? You Decide, Jews for Judaism website, retrieved September 11, 2006.
o "Messianic Jewish organizations, such as Jews for Jesus, often refer to their faith as fulfilled Judaism, in that they believe Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. Although Messianic Judaism claims to be Jewish, and many adherents observe Jewish holidays, most Jews regard Messianic Judaism as deceptive at best, fraudulent at worst. They charge that Messianic Judaism is actually Christianity presenting itself as Judaism." (Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Baylor University Press, Nov 2004, p. 448).

Answer 9

I think that there are a couple of terms for people who beleive that Jesus is the messiah, but still retain elements of their Jewish cullture (remember not only is Judism a religion, but it is also a culture). Completed Jews is one term, but there are also people who call themselves "Jews for Jesus".

Answer 10

Since Christmas is about Jesus, they call Jews who believe in Jesus, Jews for Jesus.