Thursday 9/25/14

On September 6, 1938, in the midst of the Holocaust, Pope Pius XI addressed a group of Belgian pilgrims. The words he spoke were unscripted; a rarity for a Pope at the time. He spoke about Judaism, and against the atrocities taking place at the hands of Germany’s Nazi government. He said that anti-Semitism and Christianity were incompatible. He spoke of our common ancestry with Judaism, and made the now famous statement, “Spiritually, we are Semites.”

Just over 76 years later, his words still ring true. Christianity was born out of Judaism. Without it, we have no context. We call Jesus the Messiah, but the very idea of a Messiah is Jewish. We say that Jesus is the fulfillment of the scriptures. Those scriptures are the Scriptures of Judaism. Jesus taught about the Law, but he wasn’t a lawyer. He taught about Jewish Law. He was dedicated in the Temple to Yahweh, the God of the Jews, and the same God we still worship. None of the apostles called themselves Christians. That name came along much later. They called themselves Jews who followed “the way.”

Jesus did not come to abolish Judaism. He came to complete and perfect it.

Spiritually, we are Semites. We are spiritual Semites who believe that our Messiah has come. We are spiritual Semites who believe that He has redeemed mankind through His death on a cross. We are spiritual Semites who believe that His love saves Saints and sinners alike. Spiritually, we are Semites.

Think of your favorite stories from the Bible. Chances are, some of them are from the Old Testament. The Creation Story. Cain and Abel. Noah’s Ark. Joseph and his “Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Moses and the Exodus. The Ten Commandments. Jonah and the Whale. All of these stories are from the Old Testament, which was written by the Hebrew people and still taught in synagogues all over the world as Sacred Scripture. That is why many Biblical scholars no longer use the term “Old Testament,” but instead use the more accurate “Hebrew Scriptures” to refer to those texts.

Last night, at sundown, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah began. Commonly called the “Jewish New Year,” it celebrates the birth of the world, and will continue until Friday. According to Jewish tradition, today marks the anniversary of the sixth day of creation; the creation of man. It is a celebration of birth and renewal. It is a time to take stock of our lives and look back at the previous year and forward to the new one. It is a time to pray. It is a time to seek forgiveness.

Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days which will conclude on Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) on October 4. Though we are not, by Creed, Jewish, we should all take some time over the next ten days to embrace the traditions of our religious forefathers through repentance, increased prayer, and examination of conscience