The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation (Shofar Supplements in Jewish Studies)

418 Pages·2011·11.05 MB·English

by  Zev Garber

The Jewish Jesus
Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation
Shofar Supplements in Jewish Studies
Editor
Zev Garber
Los Angeles Valley College
Case Western Reserve University
Managing Editor
Nancy Lein
Purdue University
Editorial Board
Dean Bell
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Louis H. Feldman
Yeshiva University
Saul S. Friedman
Youngstown State University
Joseph Haberer
Purdue University
Peter Haas
Case Western Reserve University
Rivka Ulmer
Bucknell University
Richard L. Libowitz
Temple University and St. Joseph’s University
Rafael Medoff
The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
Daniel Morris
Purdue University
Marvin A. Sweeney
Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University
Ziony Zevit
American Jewish University
Bruce Zuckerman
University of Southern California
The Jewish Jesus
Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation
Edited by Zev Garber
Purdue University Press / West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright 2011 by Purdue University. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Jewish Jesus : revelation, reflection, reclamation / edited by Zev Garber.
p. cm. -- (Shofar supplements in Jewish studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55753-579-5
1. Jesus Christ--Jewish interpretations. 2. Judaism--Relations--Christianity.
3. Christianity and other religions--Judaism. I. Garber, Zev, 1941-
BM620.J49 2011
232.9'06--dc22
2010050989
Cover image: James Tissot, French, 1836-1902.
Jesus Unrolls the Book in the Synagogue (Jésus dans la synagogue déroule le livre). 1886-1894.
Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper.
Image: 10 11/16 x 7 9/16 in. (27.1 x 19.2 cm).
Brooklyn Museum. 00.159.71. Purchased by public subscription.
Dedication
To the courageous and devoted essayists of this tome. Jews, who practice the faith
of Jesus, and Christians, who believe by faith in Jesus. By the authority of Torah
and Testament, they merge as one in proclaiming the Jewish Jesus and restoring
his pivotal role in the history of Second Temple Judaism and beyond. The rest is
commentary and controversy. Read and see why.

Contents
Introduction 1
Section 1: Reflections on the Jewish Jesus
1 The Jewish Jesus: A Partisan’s Imagination
Zev Garber 13
2 The Kabbalah of Rabbi Jesus
Bruce Chilton 20
3 The Amazing Mr. Jesus
James F. Moore 36
4 Jesus the “Material Jew”
Joshua Schwartz 47
5 Jesus Stories, Jewish Liturgy, and Some Evolving Theologies
until circa 200 CE: Stimuli and Reactions
Ziony Zevit 65
6 Avon Gilyon (Document of Sin, b. Shabb.116a) or Euvanggeleon
(Good News)
Herbert W. Basser 93
7 Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of the Jewish Messiah
and Jesus
Rivka Ulmer 106
Section 2: Responding to the Jewish Jesus
8 What Was at Stake in the Parting of the Ways between Judaism
and Christianity?
Richard L. Rubenstein 131
9 The Jewish and Greek Jesus
Yitzchak Kerem 159
10 Jewish Responses to Byzantine Polemics from the Ninth through the
Eleventh Centuries
Steven Bowman 181
11 A Meditation on Possible Images of Jewish Jesus in the Pre-Modern
Period
Norman Simms 204
12 Typical Jewish Misunderstandings of Christ, Christianity, and
Jewish-Christian Relations over the Centuries
Eugene J. Fisher 228
Section 3: Teaching, Dialogue, Reclamation: Contemporary Views on the
Jewish Jesus
13 How Credible is Jewish Scholarship on Jesus?
Michael J. Cook 251
14 Taking Thomas to Temple: Introducing Evangelicals to the
Jewish Jesus
Christina M. Smerick 271
15 The Historical Jesus as Jewish Prophet: Its Meaning for the Modern
Jewish-Christian Dialogue
Sara Mandell 293
16 Before Whom Do We Stand?
Henry F. Knight 315
17 Edith Stein’s Jewish Husband Jesus
Emily Leah Silverman 333
18 Can We Talk? The Jewish Jesus in a Dialogue Between Jews
and Christians
Steven Leonard Jacobs 345
19 The New Jewish Reclamation of Jesus in Late Twentieth-Century
America: Realigning and Rethinking Jesus the Jew
Shaul Magid 358
Annotated Bibliography 383
Contributors 394
Index 401