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This is a continuation of the previous post where someone asked me about a message to William Lane Craig which was answered by some fellow named "Drew" who was full of misinformation. He quotes from Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, a well known counter missionary rabbi, to actually try to say the rabbi supports the idea of Jews as Christians. This is the exact opposite of that rabbi's teachings. View the video to see for yourself...
This Jewish "expert" named "Drew" stated: "When I studied the Bible under Orthodox rabbis, I would often ask “what about such and such an interpretation?” Inevitably, there was some rabbi somewhere that shared the same view that I had regarding how the passage was to be interpreted. This is why I was puzzled when Singer keeps claiming that the rabbis have unanimously rejected Christian interpretations of certain passages. It is not true, and no less than J. Immanuel Schochet admitted as much. He said “[Christians] keep republishing books which cite numerous passages from Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, Jewish Bible-commentaries and other works, to validate their arguments. Are we now to erase these quotations from our heritage?" His "quote" from the rabbi is deceptive -- it is a partial quote and out of context. The rabbi wrote: "for the longest time they [Christian missionaries] have claimed that authentic Jewish sources support and vindicate the messiahship of Jesus. They keep republishing books which cite numerous passages from Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, Jewish Bible-commentaries and other works, to validate their arguments. Are we now to erase these quotations from our heritage?" By ignoring the sentence preceding his quote "Drew" completely reverses the rabbi's meaning. He is saying quite clearly that missionaries MISUSE numerous sources including the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Jewish bible commentaries. "Drew" would have you believe the rabbi "admitted" (his own deceptive wording) that those Jewish works SUPPORT Christianity. Where did "Drew" study Judaism -- Kindergarten? Midrash, Talmud (which consists of discussions around Jewish law AND stories meant to make a moral point aka midrash aggadah), Zohar are all NON-LITERAL. Christians will take non-literal things and claim they are prophecies about Jesus -- which apparently this ignorant person is doing. There are various levels the Jewish bible is read, this is called PaRDeS:
Craig's Jewish "expert" mentioned a quote by Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, Z"L (1935-2013). This is highly insulting as the rabbi dedicated his life to countering missionaries like "Drew" himself! The quote is taken completely out of context. Here is a quote by R' Schoceht that Drew neglected to tell his readers: "For a Jew, however, any form of shituf (mixing of G-d with another entity such as Jesus) is tantamount to idolatry in the fullest sense of the word. There is then no way that a Jew can ever accept Jesus as a deity, mediator or savior (messiah), or even as a prophet, without betraying Judaism. To call oneself, therefore, a 'Hebrew-Christian,' a 'Jew for Jesus,' or in the latest version a 'messianic Jew,' is an oxymoron. Just as one cannot be a 'Christian Buddhist,' or a 'Christian for Krishna,' one cannot be a 'Jew for Jesus.'" Hmmm, wonder why "Drew" didn't reference that specific quote from the rabbi? For "Drew" to misuse R' Schochet to missionize is nothing more than deceit. Rabbi Schochet pioneered a successful network of counter-missionary campaigns which succeeded in reconnecting numerous Jews to Judaism. So how exactly did "Drew" distort and mislead his readers about R' Schochet? The rabbi wrote and lectured extensively on Jewish philosophy and mysticism. Let me give you a quote by R' R' Immanuel Schochet “I have no interest in attacking another religion, or attempting to convince Christians to change their beliefs,” he announced. “My sole and ultimate goal is to get missionaries off our backs, to say to them, ‘Leave us alone. " Why do suppose "Drew" didn't give this quote from the rabbi? Why did he mislead his readers to think that R' Schochet equated Christianity's interpretation of verses mistranslated and out of context with rabbinic non-literal uses to teach morality and ethics? R' Schochet wasn't saying that Christianity's interpretation of the Hebrew Bible to "paint Jesus" into every verse was equal to Jewish stories and tall tales! Hence "Drew" is distorting the words of the rabbi and twisting them to mean the opposite of what the rabbi actually taught. Missionaries take "types and shadows" (otherwise known as smoke as mirrors) and claim that they are prophecies about Jesus. R' Schochet was speaking of STORIES that are not literal, but are meant to make a moral point. Judaism is known for its rich history of story telling to make a moral point. This is called "Midrash Aggadah" -- where a word or sentence is lifted from the bible to make a moral point. However, prophecy is NEVER based on these flights of fancy. Prophecy is always based on the plain meaning of the text. Either "Drew" is ignorant of a pretty basic understanding of Judaism or he is lying to his readers. Most likely he is uneducated. Yet Craig's friend Drew is saying that non-literal stories and mysticism = prophecy. Not true. The Jewish bible itself never once gives an example of a prophecy being "dual" or being "hidden." Thus the Christian concept of changing the meanings long after the fact are simply not supported in the Jewish bible. The real meaning of any biblical passage is the p'shat (plain meaning). Everything else is a kind of midrash, -- a story which is not literal, but is meant to teach some supplementary message. Prophecy is NEVER based on drash, still less from rĕmĕz or sod. Prophecy is never based on hints, or shadows or vague possibilities. Judaism is replete with stories and "tall tales" -- but those are not literal and are not meant to be taken literally. A principle of the Talmud that Rashi quotes several times states that אֵין מִקְרָא יוֹצֵא מִידֵי פְשׁוּטוֹ -- in English this would be "A verse cannot depart from its plain meaning." (Treatise Shabbat 63a, Treatise Y'vamot 11b, 24a; quoted by Rashi at B'réshıt / Genesis 15:10, 37:19, and Sh'mot / Exodus 12:2). And then this misguided uneducated misleading fool "Drew" (sorry nothing better to call him) actually says: "Rabbi Simcha Pearlmutter gave a lecture where he argued that even some of the rabbinic liturgy clearly points to Jesus." You might think that this Pearlmutter is a rabbi on par with the greats, right? Wrong. What of "Rabbi Simcha Pearlmutter"? "Simcha Pearlmutter" who, it is claimed, was an "Orthodox" rabbi who became a believer in Jesus. Pearlmutter was never an Orthodox anything, let alone a rabbi. In a book he authored Pearlmutter gave biographical information. He claimed a bachelor's degree from Boston along with attending two years of law school there. He then states that he became a law clerk in Miami, Florida. Nowhere did Pearlmutter ever claim that he studied Judaism as an adult, let alone that he was an Orthodox Rabbi with a סמיכה / smicha (rabbinical ordination). He became a Christian while living in Miami, Florida. Pearlmutter founded a Christian cult in Israel where he called himself "rabbi." In 1982 his Jewish wife left him, along with her three children. He barricaded himself with his son and would not allow his son to be taken away. The case made it up to the Supreme Court of Israel. The community became smaller and smaller as more people left. Pearlmutter was considered quite a nut, according to an article published in 1990 in the Jerusalem Post (April 21, 1990): "His neighbours want him out of the Arava. His community lost its official status years ago, and most of his followers have long since packed and abandoned him. Seven of his nine children have dropped the dream of building a new community in the desert. Most of them do not even maintain contact with him. And yes, Pearlmutter once had two wives simultaneously, the mothers of his nine children. He does not like to talk about that part of his past, but news stories have attributed to him the view that Jewish law permits men to have more than one wife after they have returned to their own land. . . (Where he lives is) s a desolate expanse of rock-strewn desert sand. A few decaying cinder-block buildings coexist with a handful of standard-issue caravans that are commonly used for temporary housing in new settlements. . . . Twenty-four years after he made aliya, Simcha Pearlmutter still lives in a caravan. If the authorities get their way however, he won't even have that much. It seems that everybody - from the Arava regional Council and the Israel Lands Administration to the Jewish Agency and the Water Commission - wants to get rid of Simcha Pearlmutter . . . AS FAR AS the overwhelming majority of Jews are concerned, these are nothing more than the rantings of a crackpot. Religious Jews believe he poses a serious threat to the Jewish faith, while their secular compatriots just laugh at his seemingly crazy ideas..." By Carl Schrag, Week for the Jerusalem Post, April 21, 1990. There is a blog entry about Simcha Pearlmutter here. So this is who Craig's "expert on Judaism" is referencing as some great source to prove Jewish liturgy "clearly points to Jesus" -- a well known nut who was not an Orthodox rabbi at all. Sadly "Drew" is misleading Craig's readers, perhaps from his own ignorance.
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