ContentsAcknowledgments    xiPreface    xvThe Purpose of This Book    xviiA Range of Jewish Lifestyles, Beliefs, and Behaviors    xxi

Christians and JewsGoing to Church: The Jewish Roots of Christian Worship    3Jews, Jesus, and Christianity    11

The Jewish ReligionFrom Orthodox . . .    17To Reform . . .    19To Conservative . . .    21To Reconstructionist    23Contemporary Synagogues and Congregations    25A Personal Observation    28

Inside the SynagogueThe Torah and the Law    33Prayers and Blessings    38Symbols—The Mezuzah and the Star of David    43The Role of the Rabbi    46The Role of the Cantor    49Jewish Education    52Confirmation    55Congregation Membership and Paying the Bills    56The Temple    58Jewish Priests    61Time for Confession    63Who’s in Charge?    65

vii

Holidays and FestivalsHolidays and the Jewish Calendar    69Shabbat—The Sabbath    73The High Holidays—Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur    78Sukkot    87Simchat Torah    90Hanukkah—Is It Really the “Jewish Christmas”?    92Purim    97Passover    101Shavuot—The Harvest Festival    111Other Religious Events    114

Jewish Life Cycle EventsA Jewish Wedding    119Let’s Go to a Circumcision!    127Baby Namings and Rituals for Daughters    132Adoption    135An Invitation to a Bar Mitzvah and a Bat Mitzvah    137A Jewish Funeral—Saying Good-bye to Uncle Harry    148You Can Only Get a Divorce If You’re Married    155

Home Life, Jewish Beliefs, and Other Interesting Matters

Is a Kosher Hot Dog Really Kosher?    161Jewish Food    168Degrees of Orthodoxy    171Conversion to Judaism    173Intermarriage    176Religious Apparel and Dress    180Hasidim and Hasidism    185Creation, Heaven, Hell, and Life after Death    189Where, When, and How Many    192Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews    194Women and Judaism    197

Judaism in the World

viii Contents

Israel    203Jewish Art and Music    211Mysticism and the Repair of the World    214Money—Stereotypes, Charity, and the Scriptures    216Perform a Mitzvah    220Controversial Social Issues    222Old Wars and New Wars    227The Chosen People    229Anti-Semitism    231The Holocaust    235

A Call for Understanding and Community    243Glossary and Pronunciation Guide    245Recommended Reading    261Index    263

Contents ix

Going to Church: The Jewish Roots of Christian

Worship

Like my parents, I was born in Brooklyn, New York. Like many other post–World War II families, mine moved to

the suburbs when I was just an infant. However, for many years, we made a weekly pilgrimage to my grandparents’ Brooklyn home in the heart of a commercial and residential neighbor-hood.

It was in this city atmosphere that I first experienced multi-culturalism at its best. On the streets were people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, speaking a variety of languages—Ital-ian, Polish, Yiddish, German, Greek, and Russian. Churches and synagogues dotted the neighborhoods, and since we gen-erally visited on Saturday or Sunday, the sidewalks were often filled with families on their way to or from religious services. I observed ministers, rabbis, priests, and nuns (dressed in full habits) on their way to wherever they were going.

My father clearly remembers a nun speaking a few words of Yiddish to him as a boy when his Italian friends introduced him.

�

Not unlike multilingual shopkeepers in ethnic neighborhoods today, many immigrant Jewish shopkeepers learned to speak enough Italian to do business with their customers. New York was truly a melting pot of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and human-ity.

It was natural, perhaps, that I would develop a fascination for different religions. In elementary school, my “girlfriend’s” father was a pastor. In high school, one of my best friends was Catholic—an Irish Catholic, to be exact. I always marveled at the dramatic change in his behavior when we would pass a nun on the street or walk near his church. He talked to me about the confessional, the sermons, and the catechism. I once took him to sit in on Jewish religious class and laughed at the sight of him wearing a kippah.

The first time I attended a Mass was when a Jewish friend of mine from college married a Catholic woman. Since then, I’ve attended services at churches of many different Christian denominations; the rituals, sermons, and music have always held my attention.

While traveling in Spain, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Mexico and South Amer-ica, my wife and I have visited magnificent cathedrals and small, intimate churches. I make it a habit to stay and observe religious services when I can. As a musician, I always marvel at the organ and choir music.

In preparing to write this book, I asked friends to allow me to join them at local church services. I wanted to know which elements of Christian worship came directly or indirectly from Jewish worship. How were the services alike?

� Christians and Jews

During my church service attendance, research, observation, and communications with knowledgeable religious leaders, lay-people, and writers, I’ve become familiar with a few of the prin-cipal features of worship that Jews and Christians share.

First and foremost, we worship the same God—the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, the God of Abraham, the God who brought the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. This is the God who gave us the Ten Commandments. This is the God who Moses worshipped. It is the same God who Jesus worshipped. This came clearly into focus when I visited the Sistine Chapel in Rome: on one great wall, Michelangelo painted scenes from the life of Jesus, and on the opposite wall, he presented scenes from the life of Moses.

When they pray, both Christians and Jews give thanks to God and recite the works of God, recalling what God has done.

Worship services follow a certain sequence. Christians use the Latin word ordo to describe their worship sequence; Jews use the Hebrew word seder (or siddur). These words mean “order.” The order of the services is different, which is to be expected considering the many hundreds of years during which religious practices developed and holiday calendars were modified. (This is the case for Christian holidays that may have once paralleled Jewish holidays, such as Easter and Lent, which have been con-nected to Passover.)

Both Jewish and Christian services begin with a “call to prayer.” This is followed by prayers, recitation of portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, and readings from the Psalms. Christian services I’ve attended have included readings from Isaiah and the book of Kings.

Going to Church �

In Jewish services, a portion from the Torah is read on the Sabbath as well as during other weekly services (see “The Torah and the Law”). In Christian services, there is a reading from one of the Gospels, the books that narrate the life and present the teachings of Jesus.

At some point in the Jewish service, the rabbi delivers a sermon. If a Torah portion has been read during the service, the sermon generally incorporates an idea or message from that portion. In the Christian service, a minister or priest delivers a sermon or homily in a similar manner, offering an understanding of the Scripture reading and an application to contemporary life and the community. (Many of the priests and ministers I’ve heard have a good sense of humor, as do most rabbis I’ve met. I guess it goes with the job.)

While attending Christian religious services, I have found some Christian prayers and blessings that closely parallel those included in Jewish services. For example, here is a prayer from Christian worship that may also be sung as a hymn; this prayer has its roots in Isaiah 6:3:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might,Heaven and earth are full of your glory . . .Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Here is the portion Jews recite in English (or sing in Hebrew) on the Sabbath and at other services:

Holy, Holy, Holy is the God of all being.The whole earth is filled with Your glory.

� Christians and Jews

Source of our strength, Sovereign God, how majestic is Your presence in all the earth.

Praised be the glory of God in heaven and earth. (Gates of Prayer)

Here is another important part of the worship service that is similar in both the Christian and the Jewish traditions. For Christians, it is the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name.Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heavenGive us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.For ever and ever. Amen

During their religious services, Jews recite the Kaddish several times. As with other parts of Sabbath worship services, the Kad-dish is not a prayer per se; it extols the glory and name of God, but it does not ask for anything. While the theology behind the Kaddish is very different from that behind the Lord’s Prayer, look at the similarity:

Going to Church �

What I Wish My ChristianFriends Knew aboutJudaism

robert schoen

.

. .

What I W

ish My C

hristian Friends Knew

about Judaism SC

HO

EN

Religion $13.95

Whatisthesignificanceof barandbatmitzvahs?IsHanukkahreallythe“JewishChristmas”?WhatcanyouexpectifyouareinvitedtoaPassoverseder?IsarabbisimplyaJewishpriest?AuthorRobertSchoen

addressesthesequestionsandmanymoreinthisinvitingintroductiontoJudaismandJewishlife.ThisconciseandentertainingoverviewexplainsthedifferencesandhighlightsthesimilaritiesbetweenJudaismandChristianity.What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew about JudaismcoverseverythingfromJewishceremonies,holidays,andfestivalstoreligioustexts,symbols,andkosherfood.ItisperfectforthemillionsofChristianswhoarecuriousaboutthefaithoftheirJewishfriends,coworkers,andfamilymembers,orforthoseJewswhowantabetterunderstandingoftheirheritage.

“Practical, informed, and helpful, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand a Jewish friend.”—MonsignorTomHartman,“TheGodSquad”

“Schoen contributes to further understanding between America’s Jewish and Christian communities.” —RabbiDanielLapin,president,TowardTradition;cochair,AmericanAllianceofJewsandChristians

“With wit and wisdom, Schoen takes the beginner through the basics. . . . Highly recommended.” —Dr.EugeneFisher,executivesecretaryoftheSecretariatforCatholic-JewishRelations,UnitedStatesConferenceofCatholicBishops

Dr. robert Schoen is a writer and composer with degrees from Boston University, the University of California, Berkeley, and California State University, Hayward. Semi-retired from the practice of optometry, he is active in efforts to promote Jewish-Christian understanding. He lives with his wife, Sharon Chabon, in Northern California. Learn more about his work at www.RobertSchoen.com.