Thoughts on Jewish Identity presentation

I sat in a room tonight with about 80 people from all over the country. In fact, there were people there from all over the world. It was the opening night of the Jewish Identity Symposium. I will be speaking on Wednesday morning, but tonight, three other people presented papers with the topic, "A Biblical Basis for Jewish Identity."

I will admit that I didn't read the papers ahead of time. I tried to follow along, comparing the papers that I had electronically downloaded on the computer with the presentations that were being given. However, since the papers that were written were 4,000 words each, or about 18 pages, and the presentations were only allowed to be 15 minutes, there was a lot that had to be trimmed from the papers, which made it difficult to follow along.

My wife brought up a very good point that I think should be stated from the very start. As believers in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, our identities are wrapped up in Him, and in Him alone. So the question of a Biblical basis for Jewish identity is really not an accurate reflection of biblical, particularly New Covenant theology. However, for the sake of this discussion, we will move ahead.

The first presenter for this evening began with the premise that the Jewish people are a communal people. Therefore, rather than asking the question, "Who am I?" the Jewish people ask the question, "Who are we?" As such, Jewish identity is the identity of Biblical Israel as a nation. And Israel's identity, biblically, is marked by the call to be different, set apart, holy, קָדוֹשׁ (kadosh). His final conclusion was that the Tanakh describes this set-apartness, and the New Covenant, while not necessarily providing explicit basis for such an identity, it does, however, assume its continuation.

The second presenter on this subject was somewhat more confusing. His initial statements included a comment that Hebrew Christians and Messianic Jews have contributed to the assimilation and silent disappearance of the Jewish community into the greater church. He continued on to say that Galatians 3:26-28 is Paul's defense of Gentiles remaining Gentiles. Confused yet? Isn't this supposed to be a discussion of the continuation of Jewish identity?

The final presenter tonight seemed to begin with the presumption that the continuation and maintenance of Jewish identity is a given. With that assumption being made, there are a number of consequences to maintaining a Jewish identity, which she illustrated through personal testimony. There is no doubt that the persecution and anti-semitism that have been experienced throughout the past centuries have contributed to many Jewish people assimilating, and giving up their Jewish identity. However, as she pointed out, the same persecution and anti-semitism can be a solidifying force within the Jewish community, something along the lines of, "If we can stick together, we can get through this." And while all this is true, it really doesn't address the issue of a biblical basis for Jewish identity.

The biblical basis for Jewish identity is scattered throughout the New Testament, but not in a dogmatic way. It is revealed in the way that the first century followers of Yeshua lived. It is clear they went to the Temple, just like Jewish people did in those days. It is clear that they honored the Sabbath. It is clear that there were additional things that were part of the Jewish community that were being followed. And in many cases, these things were also being followed by Yeshua, Himself. That seems like a good reason to maintain a Jewish identity if you were Jewish to begin with. The question of Gentiles living a Jewish lifestyle will be part of a future blog later this week.

The issue of Jewish identity, as it applies in this discussion, is one of practice rather than heritage. If Jewish identity is decided solely by birth, that is, by whether or not one is of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then the continuation of Jewish identity is not an issue at all. If you are, you are, and there is no maintenance required. And there is nothing that you can do to change it. If, on the other hand, it is a reference to the practices that were associated with the Jewish community, and those practices are delineated by the Torah, then continuity in the New Covenant is a valid question. Especially since there are so many who believe that everything in the Tanakh was done away with when Yeshua came.

There were no conclusions that were made, and I think that was intentional. I do think that the point is to start a discussion about the subject. So let's start one. I would really be interested to hear about what you think about this. So here are the questions. 1. Is there truly such a thing as a Jewish identity in the Tanakh, and what is it? 2. If there is a Jewish identity, should it continue in and beyond the New Covenant, and what does it look like?

Remember that this is not saying anything about the role or identity of the non-Jew. We will talk about that later. Tomorrow, "The Jewish Believer and the Torah," "The Gentile Believer, the Torah and a Jewish Lifestyle," and "The Messianic Jewish Home." Going to be an interesting day.

It's late, I'm tired, and heading to bed.