jews and christ?

Question

why are we blamed for the death of jesus? we didnt do it it was the ROMANS!!!!! im sick of people at school calling me a "jesus killer" and so sick of the straight minded christians 9no offence) always telling me my religon is stupid apperantly they dont that christianity came from judisim!

Answer 1

I think that Rabbi Federow's site can help you and others who appear a bit confused about some things with regard to the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Share this with your classmates. I agree that if you are being bullied that you need an authority figure to help you but I urge you to to go to your parents FIRST with this to enlist their help. Also the Anti Defamation League has information that may be helpful to you for your community to help your school address this without creating a disruptive situation for anyone. Quite often if you approach a teacher first, not knowing beforehand the community dynamic ( if fundamenatlism has fostered this as in my instance it BEGAN by EXAMPLE of a teacher and the children simply followed suit ) it could escalate.

It may not stop their bigotry and Jew hate, because, let's face it...there are a GREAT MANY anti-semitic passages and stories in the New Testament that demonize Jews, and one of them goes so far as to invent a story of a "custom" for the sole purpose of laying BLAME on Jesus death on Jews. ( A Catch 22 because if he was supposed to be a "willing sacrifice" to atone for their sin..why the need to blame his death on anyone?) Jews have pointed out since it first appeared in the New Testament and stated as "custom"...it NEVER EXISTED! ( pardoning a prisoner for Passover).

EDIT TO NOTE: As a Jewish mother ( who also grew up with this same kind of nonsense on at school ) I applaud the Christians who have come here to declare that behavior is bad.

I hope you also speak out when you come across the many instances that such things are said in Y/A in response to questions about Judaism.

shalom and Happy Hanukkah :)

EDIT Jesus is insignificant to Judaism, but Judaism, because Jesus is a Jew and the tenets of faith of Christianity are dependent on replacement theology..is not insignificant to Christianity.

The New Testament is as valid to Jewish beliefs as the Quran is to Christian beliefs.

Please respect that and stop trying to define Judaism for Jews.

Shalom

Answer 2

Mama_pjama gives a good answer, as always :)

Just to correct some of the well meaning but inaccurate Christians who have answered: Christianity contradicts most if not all of what Judaism stands for. They are two separate theologies, and in fact they are mutually exclusive. If you agree with one, you automatically disagree with the other!

Judaism stands alone and is not 'fulfilled' nor 'completed' by Christianity. Judaism is complete in and of itself.

Now to the asker:

I went to a mixed faith school and like you, I was the recipient of some really nasty remarks!

The best thing I can advise is that you really learn about Judaism, that way you will have knowledge and you will be able to give intelligent, truthful answers to these people - even though they may not listen.

I find http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/ a wonderfully helpful site.

So is http://www.jewsforjudaism.org

If you are in any way being bullied at school, then DON'T suffer in silence: tell your parents and/or a teacher. NOBODY should put up with that.

Best of luck - post here again if any of us can give you any other help, support or advice :)

Answer 3

Jesus gave himself up willingly for the whole world. Someone should tell your classmates (I'm sure you've tried, but someone else should back you up) that without Judaism, Christians would not have Jesus. Judaism is our mother religion. These people sound like the kind that look for some reason to hurt and bully, and religion is what they use with you.
I'm sorry you are being treated that way. Your school has a responsibility to put a stop to it, if no one else will.

Answer 4

Jesus was a Jew.

I'm a Christian, and it really annoys the crap out of me when people do that to Jews.
I'm really sorry for all those retards.
People who are "Christians" that tell you that your religion is stupid most likely aren't Christians, and all you can really do is ignore them. I think we are all responsible for the death of Jesus, but we kinda aren't. God made it happen so we could live, but because we lived, Jesus had to die

So, in my opinion, we are all to blame, yet, none of us are if we have asked for forgiveness and have repented

Answer 5

Blood libel in christianity is a long tradition of theirs. They invent a killing and then blame the Jews for it in order to have Jews killed. They started out that way and are doing it to this day.

Sometimes I'll tell people who are too pushy "I'll be what the person you worship was..and he was a Jew."

Shalom,
Gershon

Answer 6

It was the priests that Judas betrayed Jesus to, they gave him to the Romans.

Tell the kids that give you a hard time to read Romans 3:9

"What shall we conclude then? Are we any better ? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin."

Answer 7

Those people must be idiots!!! Everyone should know that Jesus was a Jew. They probably think that because you're a different religion besides christian and because Hitler, but Jews still believe in one God!!

Answer 8

wow i'm sorry.. where do you live that kids still say things like that? people really need to let go of this prejudice that their religions teach. i mean, what's the point of tormenting some poor kid who's just following their family's religion (like every other kid)?? i was lucky enough to grow up in an area that was pretty diverse, so i didn't encounter any bigotry like that. hang in there, and move to a big city when you graduate.

Answer 9

No one should be calling you that - if that happens at school, please know that there are laws to protect you against harrassment like this, and you should report it.

You've got it pegged right--there are some "straight minded" Christians who don't know the origins of their own beliefs.

Answer 10

Their salvation depends on the death and suffering of Jesus. If the Jews killed Jesus (NOT), it must have been preordained by God. Where would they be if Jesus had not died on the cross? How can a book claiming divine authorship (NT) be so blatantly anti-Semitic.

Talk to your rabbi! He can make a difference.

From "Judaism for Everyone" by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Central to the Jewish response to suffering is a staunch rejection of the belief in its redemptive power. According to Judaism there are no ennobling qualities in pain…. The belief in the redemptive quality of suffering is a profoundly Christian concept. In Christianity, the suffering servant, the crucified Christ, brings atonement for the sins of mankind through his own sacrifice and torment. The message: Without suffering there can be no redemption. According to Christianity, if Jesus had not suffered and died on the cross, mankind would still be damned. Suffering is therefore extolled in the New Testament: “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). “If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering” (2 Cor. 1:6). Indeed, Paul even made suffering an obligation, encouraging the fledging Christians to “share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3).
In Judaism, however, suffering is anything but redemptive. It leads to a tortured spirit and a pessimistic outlook on life. It scars our psyches and brings about a cynical consciousness, devoid of hope. Suffering causes us to dig out the insincerity of the hearts of our fellows and to be envious of other people’s happiness. If individuals do become better people as a result of their suffering, it is despite the fact that they suffered, not because of it. Ennoblement of character comes through triumph over suffering, rather than its endurance.
Man’s mission was never to make peace with suffering and death, but to abolish them from the face of the earth for all eternity by joining God as a junior partner in creation. By studying medicine and offering aid to people in need, we live up to our highest calling of having been created in the divine image. The atheist doctor who struggles to cure AIDS is infinitely more in tune with the Jewish response to suffering than the minister of religion who tells his flock that suffering is part of the divine plan. The sinning businessman who may have never stepped into a synagogue but makes a loan to a colleague to save him from bankruptcy is more in tune with the Jewish response to suffering than the Rabbi who seeks to give a rationalization for why children die of leukemia…. Our role as humans is not to give meaning to aberrations, but combating them and to healing wounds.
.