Do Modern Orthodox Jews Read Emails Saturday

The short reply is that, as a rule, they don't. Every yr around September, they systematically avert reading Isaiah 53. But that begs a little explanation.

My proficient friend Craig Hartman (director of Shalom Ministries) describes an arroyo he likes to use with Orthodox Jews. He starts with a question: "As an Orthodox Jew you must study the Bible a lot. Can I ask your stance on a Bible passage?" He then begins to read to them from Isaiah 53. When they attempt to peer over the border of the Bible to meet what he's reading, he holds up the binding towards them and so they can meet that it'southward a Christian Bible (Old and New Testament). That satisfies their curiosity, so he continues reading. As he reads more than and more than of Isaiah 53, they invariably terminate up saying something like this: "Oh, that's talking about your Jesus." That's when he holds out the open up text in front of them and then they can come across exactly where he was reading—their Isaiah 53. Reactions vary, just pleasant surprise is not ane of them.

The point? The flick of Christ on the cross in Isaiah 53 is immediately apparent fifty-fifty to an Orthodox Jew who simply hears it being read. So why don't they believe?

You cannot meet what you lot will not look at.

At that place are lots of reasons. But the near theologically rooted explanation is offered by Paul (a Jew) when he writes that "incomprehension in part has happened to State of israel" (Rom xi:25) with the upshot that "a veil lies over their heart" when they read the Old Testament (2 Cor 3:15). Merely in addition to that is this basic law of reality: You cannot run across what you will not expect at.

Jewish synagogues follow a yearly reading schedule through much of the Old Testament. There are appointed readings for each Sabbath as well as special readings (some of them pretty all-encompassing) on holy days. Every Sabbath includes a parshah—a reading from the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy, which they read through entirely every yr)—followed by a reading from the Prophets, called the haftarah. The same schedule is followed year after year, and has been for centuries and centuries.

If you lot look up the yearly synagogue reading schedule on the net (for example, here), yous will discover that Isaiah 53 is never read. Always. Not in the weekly Sabbath readings. Not on any special holy 24-hour interval. Now you might recall, "Well, the Former Testament is pretty long; you can't read through all of it just in Sabbath synagogue readings and holy days. Surely there are a adept many other passages that are omitted also." And yous'd be right; there are many other passages that are omitted. Merely this omission is a particularly curious i.

We unremarkably think of Isaiah 53 as a unit; from a structural and literary standpoint, still, the passage actually runs from 52:thirteen to 53:12. Here'due south why that'south significant. Every twelvemonth around September one of the scheduled Sabbath readings is Isaiah 51:12-52:12. Detect where this reading stops? What practise yous suppose the following Sabbath haftarah reading is? Isaiah 54:1-10. That still might seem similar mere coincidence, except for the fact that within a seven-week menses, the Sabbath haftarah readings comprehend Isaiah 49, 50, 51, 52 (up to 52:12), 54, 55, and 56. It's hard to escape the impression that Isaiah 53 has been surgically removed from circulation in terms of whatever regular, public, Jewish exposure to information technology. Yous cannot see what you volition not look at.

Now, that'due south not to say that Jewish interpreters have historically just completely ignored this passage. The standard Jewish interpretation for the last yard years is that the "servant" in this passage is the nation of State of israel itself, whose history of suffering has atoning value for the sins of all the other nations. (Encounter this site, for example.) Information technology's an interpretation that bristles with all sorts of problems, but that's for some other post. Information technology'south enough for the present purpose to raise one simple question: If Isaiah 53 describes Israel'due south national suffering every bit God'south servant on behalf of the whole world, and promises a glorious future in which she will exist exalted and rewarded past God for all her sufferings, would you expect a passage similar that to be and so scrupulously avoided? Wouldn't yous expect this, of all passages, to be cherished and included in the Jews' yearly reading of the OT? You cannot see what yous will not look at.

"Incomprehension in Part"

Earlier I mentioned Paul'due south statement in Rom 11:25—that "blindness in part has happened to Israel." That means there are Jews who believe—like the disciples, or the 3000 on the Day of Pentecost lonely, or nearly the unabridged early on church building for the get-go two decades, or Paul, or my friend, Craig Hartman.

Or like Dr. Michael Rydelnik. I met him on the plane going over to Israel in 2011. His mother survived the holocaust. Years later she confessed to her hubby and son that she had long been a laic in Christ—even as a young Jewish girl in a Nazi concentration camp. Her husband was furious and divorced her. The court awarded custody of their teenage son, Michael, to her. Embarrassed to be the Jewish son of a Jewish-turned-Christian mother, Michael set out to prove to his mother from the Old Attestation prophecies that Jesus couldn't possibly be Messiah. He was converted by his ain study, and has since written some fantabulous books.

Or similar Zvi. Put into a Warsaw orphanage at historic period ten past his own parents who believed information technology was his only adventure for survival (and hoped his blonde hair and bluish eyes would disguise the fact that he was Jewish). Escaped the concentration camps, simply he never saw his parents over again. Left to fend for himself when the orphanage closed 3 years subsequently. Survived the Nazi occupation living hand-to-rima oris. Immigrated to Israel subsequently the war. Fought in the 1948 battle for Israel's independence. Met an old woman sitting on a park demote who gave him a Hebrew New Testament. Became a believer and spent the rest of his life pointing other Jews to their Messiah. Emigrated from State of israel to heaven just a few months ago, but left behind a son who pastors a church in Jerusalem. His life story is well worth reading.

Sometimes it is but a matter of being exposed to a portion of the Tanakh they accept never seen earlier.

The Lifted Veil

So it's only "blindness in office." Merely that'southward not Paul's whole argument: "blindness in office has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come up in" (Rom 11:25). That means the blindness is not but partial , information technology is also only temporary . Because and so (next verse) "all Israel shall be saved" (Rom 11:26).

On that mean solar day the veil that is over their center when passages like Isaiah 53 are read will be torn from height to lesser, "they will wait on Him whom they pierced," and "they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his but son, and grieve for Him as i grieves for his firstborn" (Zechariah 12:10). "And in that mean solar day a fountain shall exist opened … for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:i). And everything God, in grace, has ever promised to that nation and about that nation He will practice—for the praise of the glory of His grace and considering the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

Dr. Layton Talbert teaches theology and apologetics at Bob Jones Seminary, Greenville, SC and is a Frontline Contributing Editor.

This article first appeared at Theology in 3D, we republish information technology by permission. (Annotation – the Theology in 3D location changed recently, our link takes you lot to the new location.)

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Source: https://www.proclaimanddefend.org/2019/04/10/how-do-orthodox-jews-read-isaiah-53/

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