Good Evening, Folks.
The following is an imagined conversation between an Orthodox Rabbi and a Jewish believer in Jesus. Before I read the conversation to you, let me define a few words for you in case you don’t know what they mean. The Torah is the 5 books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy); the Tanach is the entire Old Testament comprised of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings; the Talmud or Oral Law is comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, which is a commentary on the Mishnah. Orthodox Jews believe that the Oral Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai along with the Tanach. The Brit Chadasha is the New Covenant, or New Testament.
Here is the conversation:
“Good evening, Rabbi Klein. It’s an honor to be seated with you,” said Art. “Isn’t it nice that we can attend a Night to Honor Israel together?”
“I agree. It is nice. I can see from your place card that you’re a doctor. Are you an MD?”
“Yes, Rabbi, although I’m retired.”
“So what do you do now, Dr. Wolinsky?”
“I study the Bible, Rabbi.”
“Well that’s interesting. I understand that you’re Jewish. Is that right?”
“Yes, Rabbi. I’m Jewish.”
“So what do you do as a student of the Bible? Do you study Torah, or Tanach? Do you study Talmud?”
“Rabbi, as a student of the bible, I mostly try to answer questions for people. Or sometimes I will ask questions. In order to answer these questions, I study Torah, Tanach, and the Brit Chadasha.”
“So you study the New Covenant too. But you don’t study Talmud? Are you a Messianic Jew?”
“Yes, Rabbi, I’m a Messianic Jew. I believe in Yeshua, or Jesus. I don’t study the Talmud. I may look something up in the Talmud, but not regularly. I don’t study the Mishnah and the Gemara, because I don’t believe the Talmud is divinely inspired.”
“So you don’t believe that the Oral Law is from Adonai?”
“I don’t, Rabbi.”
“So, what kind of questions do people ask you that require you to study the Bible?”
“A very common one is “What must I do to have eternal life?”.
“And what is your answer, Dr. Wolinsky?”
“I answer like this: “Believe in the Son of God and you will have eternal life”.
“What do you mean by the Son of God, doctor?”
“He is the Messiah, Rabbi. His name is Jesus, or Yeshua, which as you know means salvation. In the New Testament He is usually referred to as the Son of God or the Son of Man. When He walked this earth 2,000 years ago he most often referred to himself as the Son of Man.”
“Is there anything in the Tanach about Him?”
“Definitely, Rabbi. If you have a Tanach with you, let’s turn to Daniel, chapter 7:
Daniel 7:13-14 (TLV) “I was watching in the night visions. Behold, One like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was brought into His presence. [14] Dominion, glory and sovereignty were given to Him that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
Rabbi, the One like a Son of Man approaches the Ancient of Days. In other words this One like a Son of Man is approaching God. And He is then given dominion, glory, and sovereignty permanently so that all peoples should serve Him. There is simply no question that this Son of Man has divine qualities. He isn’t an angel.”
“Doctor, are you saying that the person calling Himself the Son of Man in the New Testament is the same person as the Son of Man in this Daniel passage?”
“Exactly, Rabbi.”
“Then are you also saying that there are two Gods, the Ancient of Days and the One like a Son of Man?”
“No, Rabbi. I am saying that there is one God but He is a complex God. He is one God made up of three persons. I’ve told you about two of them today: the Ancient of Days who is the Father, and the Son of Man who is the Messiah. I haven’t told you about Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of this triune God. He is God also.”
“Doctor, I have to admit that what you’re telling me is fantastic. My head is exploding. You see, I want to have eternal life too. Can you tell me more, please?”
“Rabbi, let’s meet next week. OK?”
“I wouldn’t miss it, doctor. By the way, what’s your first name? Mine’s Mordechai.”
“My Hebrew name is Yitzhak, but you can call me Art. I’ll see you next week, Mordechai”.
Folks, let there be conversations like this one at Israel Galas and elsewhere. I believe that there are some Jewish people who are as open to the truth and to their need for eternal life as Rabbi Kline is. Let us pray that the Lord would ordain numerous conversations like this one by divine appointment.
Thanks for listening, folks. This is Art Wolinsky. See you next time!
