Helsinki Consultation

Richard Harveywww.mmjt.eu

Towards a Post-Religious and Post-Secular Messianic Jewish Understanding

of "Authority, Freedom, and Tradition in the life of

Jewish Disciples of Yeshua" with Reference to

Contemporary Israeli Traditionism

Outline• Unpacking the question

– what is tradition?• Christian tradition• Jewish tradition• Tradition, Traditionalism,

Traditionism• Messianic Jewish

Tradition• Towards Messianic Jewish

traditionism• Key Questions

Tradition• Paradosis• Masoret• Torah she’b’al peh

Macintyre’s dynamic definitionA tradition is an argument extended through time in which certain fundamental agreements are defined and redefined in terms of two kinds of conflicts: those with critics and enemies external to the tradition who reject all or at least key parts of those fundamental agreements, and those internal, interpretive debates through which the meaning and rationale of the fundamental agreements come to be expressed and by those whose progress a tradition is constituted.• MacIntyre 1988:12 in Yadgar 2011:14.

Thompson’s 4 facets of tradition• Hermeneutic • Normative• Legitimating• Identity forming

Streams of Christian Tradition

1545 -Tradition in Triento -1475

Sea of Halacha

What does it mean to be

Jewish?

What is compatible with being

Jewish?

Branches of Judaism

Sack’s Proposal

• Exclusivism• Pluralism • Inclusivism• Orthodox

Inclusivism

Israeli Identity

Factors shaping perception of Jewish Identity

(1)the Jewish religion,

(2) the Holocaust, (3) the State of Israel and Zionism(4) Israel/Diaspora relationship

Mittleberg’s Paradigm of Jewish peoplehooda) sense of personal closeness to other Jewsb) sense of shared fatec) sense of responsibility for and commitment to other Jews and their communitiesd) possession of the cultural knowledge and skills necessary to feel at home within Jewish culture(s) e) engagement in local and global social networks with depth and meaning f) involvement in practices that signify and realize the above.

Components of Jewish Peoplehood

Israeli Traditionism

• davening on Shabbat morning and then driving to the beach in the afternoon.

• Ortho-secular• Constant negotiation• Values implicit – family,

spirituality, identity

Messianic Jews and Traditon(s)

• Two absent, divorced parents• Abandoned• Isolated• Threatened• Creative

Messianic Jewish Tradition

• Abandon (Maoz)• Adapt (Nerel)• Adopt (Juster)• Accept (Kinzer)

Messianic Jewish Catholicity

• MJRC’s halacha• Michael Brown’s

hymns• Israeli expressions

Why “traditionism”• Jewish tradition is your home, it’s your roots,

your sense of belonging to where you are. A

person cannot live in a vacuum. I think it’s a

shame for those who do not hold on to the

tradition. Their life seems pretty empty to

me.(Tamar in Yadgar 2011:51)

• I have a Jewish soul. I have something in my

soul that will not leave me. And it’s not a

bother that will not leave me, it is something

I love very much . . . I am proud, I go to

synagogue gladly, because I want to. And

when I go to the pool on Saturday [forbidden

according to the Orthodox interpretation of

Jewish Law], I also go because I want to. I

don’t like complete secularity.

• (Sigal)

Israeli Traditionism

• “Traditionism is being Israeli, because here people don’t need to go to synagogue to be Jewish.” (Batya p53)

Between Orthodox and Secular• You see so many fun things [in the

secular world], and you know that the orthodox are missing it, not because it is forbidden, but because it [orthodoxy] is a wrong conception. Religion got stuck somewhere. I think I have an advantage over them [the orthodox], because I know things they don’t know. I know the secular world. They are stuck in halachic dictates, some of which are correct, and some stemming from fear and conservatism. I am against conservatism. That is the point. Develop! This is where traditionism is – find your way in which you are also religious and on the other hand continue living.

• (Tehila) 56:2011

The reasons for choosing traditionism and their meaning

• a complex system of identification and meaning

• sense of historical commitment and collective identity

• to conserve and reaffirm one’s Jewish identity

• Emotions as reasons• Sense of duty

national and historical duty• “God? To me that does not play a

role. To me tradition is for tradition’s sake. I want to carry on a 3,800-year-old tradition; I don’t want it to stop here. I think the people of Israel is a unique people, who have given a lot to the world, a lot of that due to the heritage received which makes this people what it is, consolidated it into a people. One can always be epicurean, leave Judaism and assimilate, but people chose to hold on to Judaism “ (Reuben 60:2011)

Connection to the roots• “I keep kosher because my mother’s

family kept kosher and because another six million died for keeping kosher” (Meir)

• It is conservation. I see it as an alliance with my antecedents, preserving the tradition they began, and continuity. And so it is some sort of connection to the roots ... I am like a tree ... a tree has roots. There is nothing that can be done about that; it has to be connected to its roots. So I am connected to my roots. I was born a Jew and I shall die a Jew, unless I break it in some way. (Tom 60)

Contribution of MJTrad to Ecumenism

• To Judaism – 7th branch• To Xty – heal original

schism• Bring denominations

together• Celebrate shabbat

Lack of method?• One of the main difficulties in

understanding the traditionist way of life lies with its perceived incoherence or lack of orderly method. That which seems to many to be selective observance is also commonly seen as symptomatic of the lack of a guiding, uniting, underlying logic. It is most definitely seen as being without a “method”, a systematic code to clearly explain which (religious) practices are observed and which are neglected. (67)

Ethno-national and communal identification

• traditionist practice can be described as guided by the desire to conserve authentic Jewish identity in a contemporary setting. The traditionist body of practices and beliefs answers to a behavioral code based upon ethno-national and communal identification. (68)

Streams of Messianic Judaism

• UMJC• MJAA

Traditions in Messianic Judaism

• MJRC – Halakah and Messianic Judaism

• Tradition acts as a measure of validity and propriety for a community’s faith insofar as it represents a consensus of faith. The various traditions that presently make claims upon us may contain conflicting images and insights of truth and validity. We examine such conflicts in light of Scripture, reflecting critically upon the doctrinal stance of our Church.

• It is by the discerning use of our standards and in openness to emerging forms of Christian identity that we attempt to maintain fidelity to the apostolic faith.

• At the same time, we continue to draw on the broader Christian tradition as an expression of the history of divine grace within which Christians are able to recognize and welcome one another in love.

Rosenzweig’s Nihil

Tradition and Self in a Mediated World

Four Facets of Tradition