Forward.com


Funny, Brad Greenberg Doesn’t Look Christian
Q&A
Article tools

It’s not surprising that a major Jewish newspaper would have its own “God Blog.” One might be surprised, however, upon learning that a Jewish newspaper’s “God blogger” is a church-going Christian. And one certainly wouldn’t expect said Christian to have a last name that starts with “Green” and ends with “berg.”

Meet Brad A. Greenberg, 25-year-old staff writer for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. He was hired on at the Jewish Journal in May, following stints covering the religion beat for the Los Angeles Daily News and the San Bernardino County Sun, bringing along his God Blog (recently named by Times of London faith columnist Libby Purves to her list of the 30 most influential religion blogs). Since joining the Journal, Greenberg has tackled stories ranging from an investigation into Hollywood’s Jewish giving habits to a colorful front-page profile of porn-and-Judaism Internet gossip Luke Ford.

Recently returned from a reporting trip to Israel — his first visit to the Jewish state — the self-described “God-fearing Christian with devilishly good Jewish looks” chatted with the Forward about his unusual background and what it’s like being a Christian working in the world of Jewish journalism.

So your name is Brad Greenberg, you’re a staff writer at the Jewish Journal and you’re a Christian. How did that happen?

I grew up in San Diego. My mom came from a Catholic household, and my dad came from a largely secular Jewish household. They got married with really no religious leaning. And when I was 5, 6, 7 — I don’t remember exactly when — they both kind of met at Protestantism. I grew up going to a kind of traditional evangelical church. And it wasn’t actually until college that I even realized that I was actually more ethnically Jewish than I thought. My mom’s mom had also been Jewish but had converted before she married, and my mom didn’t even know that until she was about my age now.

How did you wind up at the Journal?

I was out at the L.A. Daily News. I was a general assignment reporter there, focusing mainly on religion, which was a position I had created for myself at my previous paper, the San Bernardino Sun. It’s something I’ve always had an interest in. And I met [Jewish Journal editor] Rob Eshman at the Skirball Cultural Center back at the beginning of the year and didn’t think much of it, except for the fact that he’s a good guy. A few months later he sent me an e-mail out of the blue and asked me if I’d be willing to meet with him for lunch. I had just recently started The God Blog and had been doing a lot of stories on the Jewish community. And they were in a transition time and were looking for somebody who could be both a big-issue reporter and a blogger. I was, of course, concerned that my Christian faith would be a deal breaker, so I warned Rob. He didn’t share my concern — that is, as long as I wasn’t looking to use the job to proselytize.

You describe yourself on your blog as a “God-fearing Christian.” What does that mean?

To me that means that I’m somebody who believes in the Bible as the word of God and somebody who believes specifically in the divinity of Jesus and that Jesus was the Christ. It’s something I am upfront about because I don’t want it to be some kind of secret that comes out in forms of rumor or innuendo. I put it out there because I think it’s important that people know that this is what I believe, and that it’s not something that affects me as a journalist.

Do you consider yourself Jewish?

My answer to that question often has a lot more to do with the person I’m talking to. I consider myself Jewish, but I don’t expect everybody else to. I don’t consider myself religiously Jewish, and I never pretend to. I consider myself ethnically Jewish.

Do you feel a certain empathy toward other Jews?

Certainly. That’s part of my identification as being ethnically Jewish. I feel very connected to large parts of the Jewish community for multiple reasons. One, intellectually, I think I’m very Jewish, and socially I think I’m very Jewish. I think like a Jew. I care about the world in a lot of ways like a Jew — which I think at the same time can be in a lot of ways like a Christian. But I really, really empathize with the Jewish plight of history.

Do you feel like that story is your story?

There’s no way that the story of the Israelites and Jews historically is not my story, because until my parents, it was my family story.

Has your background posed any unique challenges for you in covering the Jewish community?

I know that on it’s face it makes parts of the community queasy. If my name were “Mitch Hennigan,” it wouldn’t really be an issue. But everybody assumes that if my name’s “Greenberg” and I’m Christian, I must have converted out, which isn’t the case. When I started this job, everybody I talked to was like, “So, are you a Jew for Jesus?” And I was very clear: No, I’m not involved in Jews for Jesus. No, they have not slipped a mole into the Jewish Journal. I don’t have a special calling to baptize all of “those pagan Jews.” I think when people understand who I am, when they see the sensitivity of my reporting, and the fact that I am just a really curious journalist who does care about this community and is interested in the stories that are affecting it, I think it breaks down those walls.

You’re halachically Jewish. When Jews find out that you’re a practicing Christian, do they ever try to bring you “back to the fold”?

I think that may be subtly going on. It hasn’t been anything that overt. I’m sure that a lot of people think that because I’m at the Jewish Journal, I think there is a perception that I’m here because I want to return to the community. And in ways I want to be able to identify with the community. I’m kind of struggling with how that can be done, how I can be Jewish while not adhering to the religion. But this is a thousands-year-old problem, the question of who is a Jew. I don’t anticipate being the answer.

Covering the Jewish community, do you find that Jews have any particular misconceptions about believing Christians?

Sure. I think they’re often propagated by — and I don’t use this word maliciously — ignorant or naïve reporters. And this is actually why I got into religion reporting. Right after the 2004 elections, my managing editor [at the San Bernardino Sun] sent out an e-mail saying they wanted to create a position for a religion reporter. Within 30 seconds I was in his office. And the whole reason was I think that religion is such an important part of all of our lives, whether you believe in one God or multiple gods or no god, it sets a framework for your worldview. But I see so much bad religion reporting out there, and it’s often done by people who are not specifically religion reporters.

This is an interesting time for Christian-Jewish relations, given tensions between the Jewish community and the mainline Protestants over Israel, and the uneasy embrace between segments of the Jewish community and the Evangelicals. Do you feel that, because of your dual background, you have more understanding of this situation?

I’m glad you asked about “understanding,” because I think I have a lot of understanding. I don’t see myself as a bridge or any kind of special piece in the puzzle. But I think I understand both groups. I think I understand the motivations of both. When you are both an insider and an outsider at the same time, I think that you understand what’s going on, but you remain inquisitive and curious as to why things are moving forward the way they are. It does offer some benefit.

Do you envision a career for yourself specifically in Jewish journalism?

I’m a journalist, and I have a special affinity for the Jewish community. I don’t see myself being in Jewish journalism forever, but the Jewish Journal is a great place to work right now.

For more online-exclusive Q&A’s, click here.


Thu. Aug 16, 2007



Comments

Bruce Nelson said:

Great answers Brad, all Glory to the Messiah Jesus!

Fri. Aug 17, 2007

Brett Greenberg said:

very lame indeed. do we really need to give this christian more of a profile then he already has. he is not and has never been a jew. go to church goy.

Sun. Aug 19, 2007

paul stevens said:

The Jewish (sic) Journal hires a non Jew, one with Jewish ancestry, to cover religion. And why does anyone take this joke of a "community" paper seriously. Isn't it about time our community had a paper that covered all aspects of Jewish life with sympathy and understanding and positiveness - if I want the negatives of Judaism I just have to read the LA and NY Times

Sun. Aug 19, 2007

Robert said:

paul stevens is right. It's a little odd to read a Jewish paper and have the religion beat covered by a non-Jew. What's wrong with this picture?

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Samantha said:

My story is exactly the opposite of Brad Greenberg's. My mother is Jewish (born a Catholic), and my father is Methodist who never converted.

I was raised very agnostic, non-observant, even secular Jewish. When we were younger, we had Christmas dinners with my father's side of the family and were completely assimilated.

Both my brothers have chosen authentic Torah Judaism, and are living observant Jewish lives. After years of study and considering my dad's faith (Christianity), I rejected that and embraced Judaism.

It became clear to me that Jesus is not and was not the messiah, because when Mashiach comes, the whole world will know!

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Dena Silver said:

Why do you believe that Jesus is God...How can a man be God...what makes you convinced of that?

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Gertrude Petroske said:

Gods word says that the Jews will be blinded for rejecting the truth of the Messiah, Jesus, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. What is so hard to believe that the Jew, to this day, still does not believe the truth of Gods word? Our time has not yet been fulfilled. God bless you Mr. Greenberg. I am so happy you found Jesus. I look forward to the day when the Jew and the Gentile are one religious group again. For anyone interested, I find the 'Jews for Jesus' group very interesting and informative.

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Dave said:

He says his Mom is from a Catholic family. Then the Forward interviewer says that he is halachaically Jewish. Huh?

On the positive side its nice to know that somone in LA named Brad Greenberg believes in some sort of deity.

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha, Samantha, Samantha! You say that when the Mashiach (Messiah) comes, the whole world will know it. You obviously have not read Isaiah 53 and the Targumim and ancient rabbinic commentaries on it. For your benefit, I include the first three verses of Isaiah 53, which speak of our (the Jewish people's) reception of the Messiah:

"1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Lenny Goldberg said:

Samantha, the whole world will know Messiah at His second coming. Check out the book "Messianic Christology" by Arnold Fruchtenbaum. It gives solid evidence that Yeshua/Jesus is the Messiah of Hebrew scripture.

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Samantha said:

Irving, you have misinterpreted Isaiah 53. It refers to Israel, G-ds suffering servant, not Jesus, and not even the mashiach. Even Jesus' disciples noted this Secondly, where in the "Old" Testament do you see a SINGLE reference to the messiah coming once, failing to do anything, dying, and then coming again? And by the way, your translations are inaccurate. Check the Hebrew again, chaver.

In fact, Isaiah writes that the messiah must fulfill all his obligations during his lifetime- including world peace, universal recognition of G-d- he "shall not fail nor be crushed till he has set the right in the earth" (Isa. 42:4). But Jesus died, any didn't do anything!

The messiah is also supposed to: Ezekiel 34:25- 31, 37:21-28; Isaiah 11; Jeremiah 23:6, 30:10-11. Jesus...didn't!

If the 'messiah' fails to meet even one of these, he is not the Messiah.

Jesus' 'second coming' is a meagre excuse to explain his failure to do anything the first time, and after 2,000 years of waiting for his 'quick' return, you'll be waiting forever!

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

Samantha said:

Isaiah himself identifies the servant as Israel, not the messiah: In Isaiah 41 :8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3

And 'Irving', you selectively choose where to edit Isaiah 53. It continues that the servant is: "Despised and rejected of men," which would certainly count the Jewish people in, but Jesus?

He wasn't despised at all, according to your own Gospels:

He was "praised by all" (Luke 4:14-15)

Before his crucifixion, the people were bemoaning his death: Luke 23:27

The Romans had to quietly take him off, as they feared "a riot of the people" (Mark 14:1-2).

Irving, I spent years pouring over these texts and seeing the multitude of Christian mistranslations, misinterpretations and complete forgery of Jewish texts to fit their cause. Christian writers would change a Hebrew word here, a vowel here, etc. and completely changed the meaning of dozens of verses- which they then use to convince people they're right.

Thu. Aug 23, 2007

yehudis said:

Dave, Just afterward, Brad said that his mother's mother was Jewish and that she converted "out" before she married. His maternal grandmother is Jewish = halachically Jewish. Side point: I actually cried reading this interview. This is where the Jewish people are at right now, and it is a very sad story from any angle you examine it.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha, Samantha, Samantha! You say that when the Mashiach (Messiah) comes, the whole world will know it. You obviously have not read Isaiah 53 and the Targumim and ancient rabbinic commentaries on it. For your benefit, I include the first three verses of Isaiah 53, which speak of our (the Jewish people's) reception of the Messiah:

"1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Samantha said:

Irving, I have read Isaiah 53 many times, and you see Jesus in it because you expect to see him in it.

Refer to my post: even if, for the sake of argument, Isaiah 53 refers to the maschiach and not Israel (which is a debate in itself), how does it refer to Jesus any more than the real Messiah?

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha, your Methodist and Catholic ignorances of Judaism betray you. And please understand that I mean to cast no aspersions on either tradition. I mean no disrespect for Methodism or Catholicism, but your spiritual heritage leaves you wanting in terms of your understanding of Judaism and Jewish texts.

As for myself, I have several years of Biblical (and Modern) Hebrew at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, respectively. In addition, my high school years were spent at a Lubavitch Yeshiva where I graduated with honors. I was also a Ba’al Koreh (Torah reader) for many years. Forgive me for tooting my own horn, which is not my intent. All this is intended to say that my own Hebrew is not too shabby. (I love studying the texts in the original languages, by the way. It is my “opiate of the masses,” if you will) At any rate, it is not my Hebrew which is on trial here. You make the unsubstantiated claim that Christians have misinterpreted and mistranslated the bible. You conveniently ignored my comment about the Targumim and the early rabbinic commentaries on Isaiah 53. In fact, the Targum renders Isaiah 52:13 as follows: “ha‘ yazlakh ‘avdi meshiha‘…,” which translated means, “Behold my servant the Messiah will prosper…” In other words, though the Hebrew original does not contain the word “Messiah,” it is clear that the Targum understood the passage to be speaking about the Messiah. And let me remind you that the authors of the Targumim were NOT Christians, but devout Jews! Further, the Talmud understands Isaiah 53 messianically, as do all of the ancient and early Jewish interpreters up until Rashi (11th Century CE) and Rabbi David Kimchi (also known as the RaDaK). Further, even contemporaries of Rashi and Kimchi begged to differ with the two and warned against taking Isaiah 53 as speaking of the Messiah (Rabbi Moshe Alshech was an example). Rashi’s understanding that Isaiah 53 spoke of Israel was driven by his polemical interests however. He desperately desired to refute the Messianic (“Christian”) interpretation, which not only prevailed with Christian interpreters but also our very own Jewish interpreters.

By the way, again, in answer to your charge that Christians have mistranslated our Hebrew bible, I reproduce the very same verses I quoted earlier (Isaiah 53:1-3), but this time from the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translation, for your benefit. Please note that the translation reads almost exactly as before:

JPS Isaiah 53:1 ¶ 'Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground; he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him. 3 He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Lastly, you quote several New Testament verses that speak of some of the favor that Jesus curried in his lifetime, and argue that Isaiah 53 cannot have spoken of Jesus since the latter was NOT despised and rejected. I cannot help but roll my eyes at your argument. Of course Jesus was despised and rejected! If he weren’t, you and I would NOT be having this tete-a-tete right now! Most of our people refuse to call Jesus by his Hebrew name, Yeshua (meaning “salvation”), but, rather, prefer the epithet “Yeshu,” an acronym for “yimach shemo vezichro,” meaning “may his name be blotted out and his memory!” If that isn’t being despised and rejected, then Samantha, I don’t know what is! I think you should go back to the texts and allow Hashem to show you His truth.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha,

One correction on my last post. Rabbi Moshe Alshech and other contemporaries of Rashi took the traditional messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53 and vehemently rebutted Rashi for taking the view that Israel was the servant of Isaiah 53. As mentionned earlier, Rashi took this view for polemical reasons. The wording in my previous post did not make this clear.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

curtiss gregg said:

hi. am 66 y/o. mothers people came from germany, spoke yiddish. am told by mothers cousin that everyone that came over was/is jewish.so where does that leave me? am chistian and so is Jesus. I feel ethinectly connected but lack info. suggestions? G.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Curtiss,

Sounds like you're a Jewish believer in Jesus. Try connecting with a Messianic organization or synagogue in your area.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Samantha said:

Irving, once again, you've proven nothing.

You see Isaiah as referring to Jesus because you see Jesus as the messiah, and therefore any reference to Mashiach refers to Jesus. Uh, no. If you saw Henry VIII as the messiah, you would see Isaiah 53 as referring to him, too!

Secondly, your Rashi argument is bogus. In Contra Celsum, the Church Father Origen wrote in 248 CE (almost 800 years BEFORE RASHI) that it was common Jewish view that Isaiah 53 referred to Israel. He wrote: "At this the Jew said that these prophecies referred to the whole people..." Read on. The Jewish people saw this passage as reference to them long before Rashi came along.

This Rashi argument, in fact, first arose with a missionary- like yourself- named Edward Pusey, who first propogated this in the 1800s. You're using the same recycled arguments he did.

And finally, nowhere in Isaiah does it say that, whomever is being referred to, they die for our sins, and we worship them. That, chaver, is called idol worship.

Shabbat Shalom, chaver. May HaShem bring light to you.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha,

Can you please give me the book and chapter for your citation from Origen's Contra Celsum? I'm a little disappointed that you give so much weight to Origen though. Must be the fruit of your Catholic and Methodist heritage. I can find you literally scores of quotes from Jewish sources that attribute a messianic reference to Isaiah 53. For example, consider this from BT (Talmud Bavli) Sanhedrin 98b:

"The Messiah --what is his name?...The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, `surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted...'" (Sanhedrin 98b)

But alas, I forgot; you probably give greater weight to Origen than you do the Babylonian Talmud, or Rambam (Maimonides) and others!

Isaiah 53:8 says that the servant dies for our (i.e., the Jewish people's) sins. Look it up. Contrary to what you say, Isaiah does prophesy that Messiah would die for our sins.

Shabbat Shalom Samantha, but recognize that without Messiah, you can never truly enter into HaShem's rest.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Samantha said:

THERE'S the missionary coming out in you, "Irving!" According to the Torah, the Jews have an eternal covenant with G-d, which neither Jesus nor anyone else can alter. Deal with it. The Jewish people are with G-d forever. But you have to honestly ask yourself whether those who worship a man, are really able to be close to the Almighty- or simply doing the worst sin of all- idol worship. Practice tshuva.

And as for Origen's 'thought.' It was not his thought, it was his factual observation, as a highly respected Christian theologian, disproving your argument that Rashi was the first one to say it.

And my point remains that while Isaiah 53, according to some, refers to mashiach, it never refers to Jesus- only in your mind, because you already think he's the messiah, and as a result, everything refers to him.

And furthermore, Isaiah 53:8 does not say mashiach dies for sins; it says Israel suffers in the sanctity of G-ds name- if you don't believe me, see 6,000 years of Jewish history for proof. Another common missionary argument on your part.

Also, I don't know why you keep attacking Catholic & Methodist thought. Only your fundamentalist, evangelical Protestant sect is the Truth, right? Get over it. The US will be Muslim one day, anyway. I'm sure you're looking forward to that day!

Back to the point, according to G-ds own word (Torah), the Jewish people are with G-d forever. Nothing you, or Jesus, or anyone else, does or says, changes that fundamental fact.

And I'm not going to argue with you anymore. For your own benefit, you should start working on repairing your own soul before missionizing for a false messiah.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Samantha said:

Irving, before I go prepare for Shabbat, here's the page you asked for:

Origen, Contra Celsum, translation by Henry Chadwick, Book 1.55, 1965, page 50

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Irving Salzman said:

Samantha, my Metholic friend, the shabbos is for Jews, NOT Metholics. "Just keep the sheva mitzvos b'nai Noach," the rabbis would tell you. But the good news is that Yeshua the Jewish Messiah came for my Jewish people and for you Gentiles. He died so that none of us would have to die for our own sins. Yes, the Jewish prophet Ezekiel wrote, "the soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4, 20). The good news is that Yeshua has already died our death; the death that we ourselves deserve. One day, all will have to appear before Him. Do you have your covering, your atonement? There's still time Samantha, but today is the day of salvation. Seek Him while He may be found.

Fri. Aug 24, 2007

Robet Salm, Chicago said:

I have similarities to Greenberg: my father is a non-religious Jew and mother is United Methodist. For the first 10 year of my life, I was raised Christian and taken to church sporadically. I even became part of the choir singing about the “powers of Christ.” When I was 14, I started learning more about Judaism, religious history and politics, no thanks to my parents who never showed an interest in my spiritual upbringing past the age of 13. While I did not show an enthusiastic interest in Judaism, I denounced any interest in Christianity and the cult of Jesus. I now have nothing but disgust for how Protestants and Catholics evangelize their faith. I did not drink the Kool-Aid long enough to kill my soul; it is too bad that Greenberg continues to drown his soul to death.

Sun. Aug 26, 2007

carolyn said:

It's unfortunate that people seem to think of religion the same way as a sports team. "Well, are you Jewish OR are you a Christian?" If you've studied the origin of Christianity, you know that it comes from Judaism and is very closely related. Some of us are Judeo-Christians, and today's organized religions don't seem to understand what that means. To Brad Greenberg I say that I'm proud of you for declaring who you are and being willing to put up with the replies that it brings you and, as a man more articulate than most, to explain that yes, you are both.

Tue. Aug 28, 2007

drbcohn said:

It is an honest reveation of a man where he is at the moment. Two points are in order; one, he canot be halachic Jew, because he is not Jewish and christianity at it's heart rejected the obligations of retaining mitzvot. Yeshua ben Yosef said it best, kashrut is not longer valid, "it is not important what you put in your mouth, it is more important what comes out of your mouth." Two, he doesn't have a dual background that includes Judaism other than his father was none observant Jew. Remember, christianity was not proselitized to Jews by Paul. The Jews didn't take to the blasphemy of claims of the false moshiach who christians believed it is accceptableto pray to a man. In Judaism, no one prays to a man, only G-d.

I sympathsize with Mr. Greenberg's plight. I hope he understands the angst of the Jews after 2000 years of christian love to man, except the Jew. I am glad to hear he is comitted to quality religious reporting!

Fri. Jan 11, 2008

drbcohn said:

PS Carolyn- chrsitianity does not come from Judasim, maybe the Reform movement of Judaism does, but not christianity. Christianity was a repudiation of Judaism in a complete and utter way. There really are not roots of chrstianity in Judasim. They believe in a tripartate of the Holy One and fail to recognize the singularity or Echud. In Judaism, Hashem is characterized as having different names representing various attributes the Echud, but not separate entities that are somehow united. Have you ever been to a Catholic church? saints,statues etc all abound, and can be all prayed to for intercession. Gevalt is all I can say.

As far as the moshiach, regardless of prophecy, Yeshu was a magician in his time like so many others of that desperate period of Roman occupation. The true moshiach will complete his mission once. After all, why would the true moshaich have to come back twice.

The Talmud explains in the cities of refuge, the Kohan Godal upon passing away could have the ability to take the sins of the criminal who saught refuge. But, the Kohan Godal was not Hashem and didn't get prayed to, but maybe was prayed for. So, where do you think the christians got the idea of someone dying for their sins---perhaps from the Kohanim Godal.

Fri. Jan 11, 2008

drbcohn said:

Lastly, the Jew might feel why on earth would christians have accepted Yeshu as a son of G-d and man literally as the moshaich. I'd wonder why they would draw close to a relgion that is so influenced by Roman and various other forms of pagnism, of which still persist today. And, for those of you who think Yeshu was chistian himself, that idea is absurd. To be sure, he demonstrated little respect or deep knowledge of Judaism. Jews never called him a rabbi in the sense we do now. He went to Jerrulsalem twice in his life; once at 12 and as an adult. There he's a rabble rouser. He attempts to disrupt money changing outside the Temple. It is not clear why other than he doesn't seem to understand it's purpose for the wayfarer to exchange his money for the Holy Shekel to be used in religious purpose.

Fri. Jan 11, 2008

David Grossman said:

Samantha, The Torah, Psalms, The Jewish Prophets give us hundreds of prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. The first time he came to be a suffering servant,the unblemished lamb of God to be our Passover by choosing to sacrifice his perfect sinless blood so we could by faith in Him be cleansed of our sins and made right with God. The second time He comes will be different. He will come as the KING OF KINGS, the Lord of Lords. Every knee shall see Him and every person shall bow. He will take Davids throne and rule from Jerusalem. The second time He will not be a Lamb but a Conquering Warrior and Eternal King. Jew and Gentile alike can become God's children by faith if we accept the message of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezkiel, King David, Moses. etc. The Jewish Torah, the Poets, the Prophets all wrote of both the 1st and second coming. I am a Christian, I LOVE ISREAL, In my heart I am also a JEW. My Father and Grandparents were devout Jews. So, I am not trying to be cruel or disrespectful to Judiasm. My Messiah, Jesus was a Jew. My name is David Grossman, Parents; German and Russian Jews. We have Ginsbergs and Cohens in our genelogy. So, please be tolerant and pray for insight and wisdom. And may the Peace of Jehovah be upon you.

Thu. Jul 10, 2008

Samantha said:

David Grossman:

There are plenty of prophesies in the Tanakh about mashiach, but they say nothing about a man-god dying for your sins. Those passages, like Isaiah 53, Psalms 22, Isaiah 7:14, are either mistranslated, taken out of context, or some combination thereof.

Be honest with yourself, David. If the Jews- the one people in the world who actually can read the Bible and know what it says - say mashiach hasn't come, don't you think you should actually listen to them???

Fri. Jul 25, 2008

Samantha said:

David:

I'm not maligning your faith, simply pointing out that it is certainly not a Jewish belief, and that the Jewish Messiah certainly has not come yet.

Can you please provide scriptural backing for your assertion that the messiah sacrifices his blood?

I bet I know what it is....

Fri. Jul 25, 2008