Personal God In Judaism And Christianity By Dr. Faydra Shapiro

My dear friends,

Today it is my honor to introduce you to my friend and colleague Dr. Faydra Shapiro. She is Jewish like myself, but unlike myself she is an Orthodox Jew. Faydra directs the Galilee Center for Studies in Jewish-Christian Relations at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, in northern Israel. She grew up in Canada and completed her PhD at McMaster University. For many years she was a university professor in a department of Religion and Culture in Canada. Her wonderful family made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) several years ago and she now directs the first program of its kind in Israel. She is also a proud mother of six young children. I invited her to contribute to our Jewish Studies for Christians study group on regular basis because I am persuaded that her voice, in looking at the Christian movement today as an Orthodox Jew, offers a much-needed perspective. I know that she will offer a friendly, at times corrective but balanced insight about Judaism that Christians need to hear.

Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg
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ntroductions are funny things – sometimes it’s what is unsaid, what is assumed, that can tell you the most. Several years ago I gave a talk at a church in North America about Israel and Jewish-Christian relations. The listeners were very encouraging and as the talk drew to a close I felt I had really done a superb job of teaching and inspiring the audience. Until the moment when one elderly gentleman stood up to ask me a question. He said: “Thank you very much, Dr. Shapiro. That was a great talk. But one thing you didn’t really speak about was the role of your faith in Jesus Christ”. “Oh, dear”, I thought, my heart sinking. Clearly I had done a brilliant job, but I had missed an essential point. Since that day I take the time to state it plainly and for the record: I am a Jew. Admittedly a Jew with an out-of-the-ordinary interest in Christianity and the New Testament, but still, simply, an “Orthodox” Jew.

That doesn’t necessarily matter much, but it’s always useful to know where a person is coming from.

Today I want to discuss an issue that comes up often in my conversations with Christian – almost always evangelical – friends and students. This is the matter of “having a relationship with God”, and the belief that this is one of the benefits of the Jesus path. While I do recognize that the whole rhetoric of “relationship not religion” is a product of 1970s popular American evangelicalism, it is an attiude that has important implications even if it might not be mobilized by many Christians. Now again, let’s pay attention to the unsaid. Having a relationship with God as opposed to what? The other (clearly undesirable) option is “religion”. So with Jesus one can ostensibly have something true and immediate – a personal relationship with God, whereas Jews only have “religion”.

Let’s unpack this a little. “Relationship” is understood to refer to something intimate, experiential, mystical, personal, friendly, deep, spiritual. “Religion” is ascribed the associations of being rule-oriented, man-made, legalistic, formal, distanced and superficial. Given these resonances, clearly having a relationship is something desirable whereas religion is something to progress past. And it is not uncommon for Christian readings of the gospels to assume precisely this – that what Jesus offered people was a personal (intimate, deep) relationship with God specifically in distinction to the Jews who only offered (formal, sterile) religion.

You can imagine the impact that this kind of slogan has for Christian understandings of Judaism.

It’s also interesting how this emphasis resonates with the current wave of people who insist that they are “spiritual, not religious.”

The fact is that Judaism takes the idea of the individual’s relationship with God very seriously. It is obvious to Jews that both fear of God and love of God are important, and that emphasizing one over the over leads to an unhealthy imbalance. But the Jewish love of God and personal relationship with Him ends up looking quite different than that of contemporary evangelical Christianity for several reasons.

First, most Jews find popular evangelical lyrics and expressions like “My Saviour, my closest friend” and “Jesus take the wheel” to be far too casually intimate with the Holy One Blessed be He, to be comfortable. The concern is that this approach casts the sovereign, powerful, Master of the Universe into a being dangerously much like ourselves.

Second, Jews believe that doing His will is the highest expression of love, gratitude and clinging to God. In short, good relationships are expressed in action. Because performing mitzvoth (commandments) often looks so foreign to outsiders, it is very difficult for Christians to recognize things like keeping the dietary laws or Sabbath observance for what it is supposed to be – a declaration of love for God.

I believe that the ideal for both Judaism and Christianity is a balance and an integration of heart and hands, relationship and religion, informal and formal, spontaneous and fixed. Our challenge is to look for the unseen behind the slogan, and behind our assumptions – to learn to see the “spiritual” in Judaism and the role of “practice” or “holy living” in Christianity.

Soon Jews around the world will be marking the holiest day of the year – yom kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is a powerful day, dedicated to intensive prayer and fasting, with some of the most profound and moving liturgy of the Jewish tradition. Several times on that awesome day we will describe our relationship to God with these words:

For we are your people, and you are our God.
We are your children, and you are our Father.
We are your servants, and you are our Lord.
We are your community, and you are our Portion.
We are your heritage, and you are our Lot.
We are your flock, and you are our Shepherd.
We are your vineyard, and you are our Keeper.
We are your work, and you are our Maker.
We are your companions, and you are our Beloved.
We are your treasure, and you are our Friend.
We are your people, and you are our King.
We are your betrothed, and you are our Betrothed.

(Click here to hear it sung and to see the words in Hebrew)

About the author

Dr. Eli Lizorkin-EyzenbergTo secure your spot in our new course “The Jewish Background of New Testament” - CLICK HERE NOW

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  1. Holly Holmstrom

    Shalom, wondering about the tradition of kaparot on the eve of Yom Kippur….. I do not understand how anyone can honestly believe that money given to charity or the blood of animals or even our heartfelt prayerful repentance can ever be enough to satisfy G-d’s requirements for justice & righteousness & holiness. Isaiah 52:3 G-d has sent the Messiah & redeemed us with his own arm!! Now when the nillah (gate) is open, we need to open the eyes of our heart &believe that Jesus is the Gate to Abba b’shamiyam & the only perfect sinless sacrifice to atone for our sins.

  2. José Hélder Saraiva Bacurau

    Shalom Dr faydra!
    Que o ETERNO continue a te abençoar1
    Suas palavras transmitem sinceridade,creio que judeus e cristãos tem mais incomum do que imaginam.Creio que o cristianismo tem muito a aprender com o judaísmo.
    Moshê preparou o povo de Israel para a terra prometida, mas foi Y`hoshua que os introduziu na terra prometida. Moshê os conduziu até a fronterira do Yardem,mas foi Y`hoshua quem completou a travassia do Yardem,porquê não Moshê?mas Y`hohua?
    Um grande abraço Dr Faydra seja bem vinda!

    1. Eric de Jesús Rodríguez Mendoza

      BS”D

      Shalom JOsé!

      Obrigado pelo tuo comentário.
      Eu quero te redirecçaonar e recomendar o bloge em Português:
      http://iibsblogs.wpengine.com/pt-br/deus-pessoal-judaismo-e-cristianismo-por-dra-faydra-shapiro/

      Bençoes!!

  3. Michelle

    Shalom, Dr. Shapiro,

    I loved your article. Your words stirred so, so many thoughts. I could talk about this for hours.

    As a Christian, my heart’s desire is to follow my Lord Yeshua in the way His earliest followers did. I desire to walk with Him the way Moses did, to have faith in Him the way Abraham did, to commune in worship with Him the way King David did, to walk righteously before Him the way Noah did, to speak boldly for Him the way the prophets did, to remain steadfast for Him the way Daniel did, … you get the idea. All of this requires relationship. Through the relationship, obedience to commandment flows.

    So much more to say. Email, perhaps?

  4. A Passionate Worshiper

    Dr. Eli
    I agree with you; Faydra Shapiro is a valuable addition to your team! It is refreshing and enlightening to have the Orthodox perspective of a daughter of Israel, which gave Scripture to all the nations of the world. And I agree with Faydra. The lack of holiness in the (specifically American) Church is appalling. It is encouraging to hear a creditable voice crying ‘to love God is to obey His Word…ALL of it!’ So be it!

  5. Bernard

    Without Jesus nothing is beautiful

    1. Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg

      This depends on what you mean.

  6. Rita Howard

    Thank you Dr Shapiro,
    Yes so many Christians are too pally towards G-d without remembering that He is the creator of the universe and so Holy that if we saw Him we would die. We need to learn that He is our abba but also the Holy One of Israel.
    By the way I am a Christian (Gentile) but prefer to be called a Messianic believer.

  7. Lisa

    Thanking so much for posting this article. Being Catholic and following a liturgical year I understand what you mean about religion and relationship. I think one does not negate the other. Personally, I have learned to appreciate my own faith by learning about Jewish liturgy. Thanks again. Wonderful article. I also loved the youtube video with the singing of the prayer at the end of your post. It is very beautiful.

  8. Holly Holmstrom

    Thank u Dr Shapiro. I appreciate your reply & have learned a lot from everyone’s comments. There is so much I love about Judaism especially the concept of The righteousness of G-d that surpasses our understanding &has made a way for the Jews to be with Him. I believe the security you have in the knowledge of the covenant and the promises & the belief that you already have been chosen and redeemed, us a wonderful thing that has helped keep you strong as individuals & a nation thru all the strife the world has thrown at you. I have that feeling that my Father loves me and will never leave me but Christianity does not give that assurance in this life….. I wonder why that changed with Jesus?

  9. Gidon Ariel

    Well, thank you Faydra for posting this on our Facebook group, “Jews Who Love Christians Who Love Jews (and The Christians Who Love Them)”, thank you Dr Eli for hosting this wonderful place, and then you ask you comments for this high level, civil discussion! I invite you all to that Facebook group for similar interaction, and to reach out to me by email for more friendship and discussion with an Orthodox Jew who looks for these things!

  10. Dr. Faydra Shapiro - Galilee CSJCR

    Hi Tracey! I’m all in favor of productive, positive, gentle challenges. Wishing you well on the journey.