A Jewish Perspective

October 2010 University of Birmingham

 

I went to see the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks for his talk on the role of faith in modern day Britain, in an event organised by the Jewish Society (JSoc).

He stated that he saw faith as a force for good in society. As he entered the room everybody stood up out of respect... except for the Jewish lady sitting next to me. Quite impressed by her rebelliousness I sat back down and said how standing to show respect was such an outdated tradition. She informed me that she was disabled.

The chief rabbi saw secularism as the enemy and wanted all faiths to unite against this force. He spoke with an assured authority and the lecture hall was entranced by him. And it became clear that revival was a term understood by all faiths, not just Christianity. There could just as well be a revival of Judaism, a revival which seems to be prophesied in the Bible. 

Palestinian and Jewish tensions continue, especially at the moment, and those on the political left and the pollical right will select their camp into which to support (most right-wingers supporting Israel, most left-leaners supporting Palestinians. Moderate voices just hoping that the whole situation can be resolved peacefully.) It's a bit of a minefield.

Living in the Midlands, my exposure to Jewish people was significantly low for my childhood and most of my adulthood. I simply knew so few Jewish people. I was friends with a handful of Messianic Christians (who, in their own community, lost a lot of things by becoming believers in Jesus, facing discrimination even in Israel if they went there).

But of course, the Christian faith and the Bible are very much concerned with Jewish people. I maintained that a Jewish person was my best friend, after all. My faithful invisible friend.

Significantly, apart from the first revival in Israel of Christian believers among the Jewish people through the disciples, there had not really been a historic revival of Christianity in Israel. The consensus among Christians was that it would come, but not until the last of the last days. Meanwhile, Israel itself was prophesied to thrive again and perhaps we have seen the beginnings of this since it was re-established. But, in a way, they are still in survival mode and peace does not always come out of Israel. Furthermore, we have a very dubious belief set within Christianity that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed and whoever curses Israel will be cursed. Is it all really that simple? As I say, it's a minefield.

The issue is so complex and problematic that it is hard to write about and bring anything new to the table. All I would say is this – if a Christian revival is good for any gentile country, then why would it not be good for Israel too?

It seemed safer to boycott the thought…

The Chief Rabbi finished his talk about faiths uniting against secularism. I had taken notes and the lady next to me gave me a look as if to say... 'You ignorant gentile arse'.

Sometimes I fear I will never get my Righteous Among the Nations medal...