From the editor – Issue 34 – Israel at 70
By Russ Resnik
This year Israel proudly marks seventy years as an independent state in the ancient Jewish homeland, and Kesher joins the commemoration with a penetrating look at theological, pastoral, and socio-political issues that come to the fore on this historic anniversary. We lead off with “The Besorah, Jerusalem, and the Jewish People,” by Dr. Mark Kinzer,…
The Besorah, Jerusalem, and the Jewish People
By Mark S. Kinzer
Almost all Messianic Jews are Zionists. We take seriously the land-promise given to the patriarchs and matriarchs. According to our post-supersessionist understanding of the teaching and work of Yeshua, the Jewish people—the genealogical descendants of the patriarchs and matriarchs—remain recipients of an irrevocable covenant. That covenant includes the promise of the land. In light of…
The Fulfillment of Israel’s Land Promise and Hebrews: “Transformed” or “On Hold”?
By A. Boyd Luter
The following reassessment of the traditional view of the Land Promise in Hebrews, namely that it becomes spiritualized and universalized, fits within the wider context of post-supersessionist interpretation of the book as a whole.1 It focuses on the intra-evangelical debate over whether Israel’s Land Promise from the Lord continues into and through the New Testament.2…
What Should Messianic Jewish Leaders Say about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?
By Russ Resnik
Hillel used to say: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?1 The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inevitably polarizing, and seems to have become even more so in recent years. For instance, the New York Times headlined a…
The New Nationality Law and Israel’s Constitutional Framework
By Jamie Cowen
Golda sat among the Jewish leaders—twenty-three men and one other woman who would sign the document that day. Wearing an unaccustomed tie and jacket, David Ben-Gurion rapped his gavel sharply as the clock struck four. The stillness became absolute. That was the moment when the orchestra in the gallery was scheduled to play the national…
A Messianic Jew Looks at Luther
By Richard Harvey
For five years now Luther’s writings and impact on the Jewish people have burdened me. I have visited Wittenberg three times to protest at the continued offence of the Judensau (Jew-Pig) sculpture on the wall of the Stadtkirche where Luther preached.1 I have written two books, the recently-released Luther and the Jews: Putting Right the…
Book Review
Jewish Law as Rebellion by Nathan Lopes Cardozo
By David Friedman
Having heard Rabbi Lopes Cardozo lecture a few times over the past twenty years, and being familiar with his local reputation as an innovative, engaging Torah teacher, I was not disappointed by his most recent book. Jewish Law as Rebellion: A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage1 is a collection of his short essays,…
Book Review
Prophetic Peace: Judaism, Religion, and Politics, by Alick Isaacs
By Paul L. Saal
Reviewed by Paul L. Saal What do Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jacques Derrida, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Martin Buber, and Joseph Soloveitchik have in common? They are all Jewish or of Jewish ancestry. They were each academics and philosophers of sorts. Buber, Heschel, and Soloveitchik were all religious, the latter two were rabbis, the first two mystics. Wittgenstein…
