Jewish By Discovery

By Steve Cohen

In the Bible, God established a covenant people for a very specific mission: Israel was to be a Light to the Gentiles. The story of the Bible is God's intervention to restore to all mankind what was lost at the Fall of Adam and Eve.

We who are Jewish are still part of that covenant relationship and mission call. But there are many people today, even among Christians, who, through their journeys of discovery of their ancestry are learning that they have Jewish ancestry. So what does that mean? They are Jewish too. not 25 % or 50%, but 100% Jewish because God's covenant is not divided into fractions.

When someone has realized that they are Jewish by Discovery, a whole new world is open to them the enhance their own spiritual journey. This book serves as a primer to that journey to whet the appetite to go deeper in realizing all that God has in store for them and the rest of Israel, too.

The areas of focus in this book include What does it mean to be Jewish? God's Covenants, the Law, The problem of sin, Messiah - God's solution to our sin problem, Messianic congregations, How then shall we live? How can a Jew be in the Lutheran Church? The cycle of Biblical festivals, Jewish life cycle events from birth to death, Jewish resources, a compendium of the 613 Mitzvot (Jewish laws in the Bible), Jewish confessions of faith in the 5th century, LCMS resolution denouncing Martin Luther's anti-Semitic writings, and a directory of Holocaust Memorials locations.

This text is also a good text for comparative religion classes as well as a book to study for High Schoolers in Sunday School.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098331092

Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen holds a degree in psychology from Cornell and performs his critically acclaimed Chamber Magic at luxury hotels around the country and overseas. His weekly act at the Waldorf-Astoria sells out months in advance. Cohen has been featured in many publications and on television, including the New York Times, CNN, and CBS's The Early Show.

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©2020 Steve Cohen. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN 978-1-09833-108-5 eBook 978-1-09833-109-2

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Contents

Foreword

What Does It Mean to Be Jewish?

The Bible

The Biblical View

A Secular View

God’s Covenant

The Law

I Have Discovered That I Am Jewish. Now What?

The Faith of our Fathers

The Problem of Sin

Messiah, God’s Solution to Our Sin Problem

God’s Mission

My Story

Messianic Congregations

How Then Shall We Live?

The Cycle of Biblical Festivals

Shabbat – The Sabbath – the Queen of the Festivals

Pesach – Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Yom Ha Bikkurim – The Feast of First Fruits

Shavuot – Pentecost

Rosh Hashanah – The Head of The Year

Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement

Sukkoth – Tabernacles

Hanukkah – The Feast of Dedication

Purim – The Feast of Esther And the Casting of Lots (Pur)

Jewish Life Cycle Events

Three Geographical Groupings

Yiddish (YID-ish)

Circumcision, Brit Milah (BRIT MEE-lah)

Bar Mitzvah (BAHR MITS-vuh)

Bat Mitzvah (BAHT MITS-vuh)

Mikvah (MIK-vuh)

Marriage

A Typical Wedding Ceremony

Divorce - Issuing a GET

Jewish Humor

Life

Death

Kaddish

Jewish Resources, Books and Publications

Remembering

Conclusions

Appendix 1 - Disputations

Appendix 2 - The 613 Commandments

Appendix 3 - Jewish Confession Before Baptism in the 5th Century

Appendix 4 - Lutheran Synodical Resolution 3-09

Appendix 5 - Holocaust Museums Directory

Notes

Foreword

Have you seen the ads on TV for the ancestry search site? People are rediscovering their desire to know about their lineage and those who are part of their family tree. Genetic research has also come a long way, enabling people to pinpoint where ancestors have lived, giving even more insight into their past. As we rediscover our heritage, we also cultivate the desire to better understand what life meant for them, and what it means for us as well as those who follow us.

Many are finding that they have Jewish ancestors! They are Jewish by discovery. Are you Jewish by discovery? Are you a Gentile who has a desire to learn about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith? Do you know someone who has recently discovered their own Jewish roots?

I grew up knowing that I was Jewish. My parents are Jewish. My grandparents were Jewish. I was born Jewish. There was never a time in my life when I did not know that I was Jewish, though there were times I under-appreciated my heritage and background. It was only after I became a believer in Jesus that I began to rediscover my Jewish roots. That process of discovery led me into the ancient world of the Bible, Jewish life, the challenges in Israel, and the struggles against anti-Semitism.

As a new believer in 1973, I began reading with intentionality both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and New Testament to understand what God was calling us to do and how we could live authentic lives. Those early years of faith brought new understandings that opened my eyes to the spiritual world I had ignored for so many years.

My prayer for you is that you would ask yourself the question, How can I grow in my understanding and pass on the rich heritage of our Biblical roots to succeeding generations?

The purpose of this short writing is to prime the pump and grow in the knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. May your faith be strengthened through Y’shua (the Jewish way to say Jesus) our Messiah.

What Does It Mean to Be Jewish?

The Bible

The Bible is a compilation of many books written by men under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. From a Jewish point of view, the Hebrew Bible is called the TENAKH, which is an acronym of three parts: Torah - the five books of Moses; Nevi’im - the prophets; and Ketuvim - the writings like Psalms, Proverbs and historical books.

The arrangement of the Jewish Bible is in different order from what you find in the so-called Christian Bible, but the books are the same in content. The Old Testament is not considered a Jewish reference to the scriptures since there is nothing old or to be added. Therefore, calling it the Jewish Bible or the Hebrew scriptures or Tanakh is saying the same thing referring to what is also known as the Old Testament.

All the text of the scriptures is inspired by God:

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

The versification and numbering were additions by a Rabbi named Nathan in 1448 A.D. In some instances, there will be slight variations in chapter and verse division, but that does not alter the inspiration or authority of the scriptures.

The first part of all Christian Bibles¹ is the Old Testament², which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible.

The Biblical View

The Bible is God’s revelation to us that He is, and He loves us. He created everything. The whole universe is His. He created us from the dust of the earth and breathed life into us. He set his first created humans in a wonderful place and asked only that they refrain from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The consequence of disobedience led to the fall of all mankind. Sin separates us from our Holy God. The rest of the scriptures reveals God’s work of redemption and restoration to the relationship initially given in the Garden of Eden.

While most Jewish people today say that the Messiah has not yet come, the Bible reveals that to be untrue. Y’shua came, according the scriptures, to do for us what we could not do for ourselves: make full and final payment for our sin. He finished the work of restoration to God and promises us eternal life in heaven. Praise the Lord!

The question, What does it mean to be Jewish? is not as easy a question as it may appear. If you ask three rabbis, you will get five