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Our Rabbi's Message
August 15th 2008
By Rabbi Aaron KriegelThe haftarah, which we read this Shabbat, is the very beginning of Messiah by Handel. Handel used the words of Isaiah to express Christian hopes and Christian yearnings. Yet, when we, as Jews, listen to those same words chanted from his libretto, we cannot help but hear Jewish hopes and Jewish yearnings. We feel that Messiah was written for us; Christians, I am sure, believe that the Oratorio was written for them.
In truth we have similar hopes and similar yearnings. Both traditions look to an end of days, a utopian society, a time when there is no suffering. Both of our traditions hold to the idea of a messiah. They believe that the messiah has already come; we believe that he has not yet arrived. In that regard we our traditions are very close to each other.
Yet there really is a significant difference between Jewish and Christian tradition. Ours does not rely on dogma. Theirs is centered on dogma. Our faith is not sullied by certain beliefs. Their faith could not exist without certain beliefs. Our faith would survive even if we learned that none of the Torah was from Sinai; their tradition is based upon the very certainty of events in their testament.
Christianity is centered on the idea that their messiah will come for a second time and bring redemption to the world. Our faith is centered upon the recognition that people, by their actions, can make this world a better world and perhaps a perfect world. Our faith does not need a Messiah. We can live comfortably with only the hope that we can bring about messianic times.
Our traditions hold that Godliness can be identified in the acts of good people. We have no need for proof of God's existence in the guise of messiah or in any other guise. For us God is the power that makes for salvation. For us the dream of a better world is a godly idea.
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