Yellow Crucifixion, Marc Chagall (1943).

Jesus for Jews

That Jesus lived and died a Jew would hardly be regarded as news by most educated Jews and Christians today.  Still, while the historical Jesus is ever-elusive, the figure of Jesus, for Jews, has become more accessible.

The Jesus Question  John T. Pawlikowski,  Jewish-Christian Relations.  Back on the agenda in certain Jewish circles, the question is now being asked in collaboration with Christian scholars.  SAVE

How It Began  David Novak,  New Republic.  Peter Schafer's examination of anti-Christian passages in classical Jewish sources is rigorous, candid, and, perhaps unexpectedly, hopeful.  SAVE

“Rabbi Jesus”  Raphael Ahren,  Haaretz.  Fending off scathing criticism, an Orthodox rabbi asserts his words were manipulated and emphasizes the "fundamental differences" between Judaism and Christianity.  SAVE

SAVE "Jesus for Jews"

Crimes of Communion

Two years ago, a Muslim reporter for the Malaysian magazine Al Islam attended a Catholic mass in Kuala Lumpur with a companion, surreptitiously took communion, and put the wafer in his mouth, only to spit it out later. The May 2009 issue of Al Islam featured a cover photograph of the soggy, partially-eaten wafer—to the horror of local church authorities.

Desecration of the Host  Joseph Jacobs, Max Schloessinger,  Jewish Encyclopedia.  A brief history and overview of the charge that Jews stole and defiled the sacred wafer of the mass, causing it to bleed. The accusation brought thousands to the stake.  SAVE

Malaysian Catholics Protest  CathNews.  Complaints have been lodged against a Muslim journalist who accepted a communion wafer at a Kuala Lumpur parish, later removing it from his mouth and photographing it.  SAVE

Harper and the Host  Charles Lewis,  National Post.  The conduct of the Canadian prime minister at a funeral mass ignites a religious controversy over proper decorum during a Catholic communion service.  SAVE

SAVE "Crimes of Communion"

West Side Story (film, 1961).

Easter, Passover, and the West Side Story that Wasn’t

Late in 1948, in the early stages of his collaboration with Jerome Robbins on the musical that would become West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein wrote in his diary: "Jerry R. called today with a noble idea: a modern version of Romeo and Juliet set in slums at the coincidence of Easter-Passover celebrations. Feelings run high between Jews and Catholics. . . . "

SAVE "Easter, Passover, and the West Side Story that Wasn’t"

A Chosen People?

Within months of Israel's lightning victory in the June 1967 war, French President Charles de Gaulle was asked for his judgment of the dramatically new situation created by the triumph of the Jewish state over its enemies. Still smarting from Israel's refusal to heed his advice and wait passively for the Arab armies to attack, de Gaulle labeled the Jews "an elite people, sure of themselves and domineering."

Which Chosen People?  Avi Beker,  Institute for Global Jewish Affairs.  The concept of Israel's election helps tie together the mystery of Jewish existence with the perplexity of anti-Semitism.  SAVE

Chosenness and Its Enemies  Jon D. Levenson,  Commentary.  Like the Jews themselves, the idea of the chosen people will not die.  SAVE

SAVE "A Chosen People?"

Clash of Civilizations

The death toll in Afghanistan has passed the two-dozen mark in the riots "inspired" by Pastor Terry Jones's burning of a Quran in Florida. The grisly political theater has served its purpose.

Laying Down the Law  bernama.com.  In Malaysia, where Islam is the state religion, the prime minister's office has informed parliament that non-Muslims who cite the Quran "according to their own understanding, without sincerity" are subject to jail sentences under the penal code.  SAVE

Appeasing the Violent  Dorothy Rabinowitz,  Wall Street Journal.  General David Petraeus's display of deference to the Muslim mobs that murdered over twenty innocents in Afghanistan will not strengthen the American mission there.  SAVE

SAVE "Clash of Civilizations"