Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg’s The Jewish Gospel of John: Discovering Jesus, King of all Israel
Though geared for a Christian audience, the question motivating the author is a deeply Messianic Jewish one. The challenge of the Gospel of John for a Jewish follower of Yeshua is this: if the Fourth Gospel is anti-Semitic, how can any Jew embrace its message? The author reveals to us the existential problem which motivated…
Read MoreRabbi Ethan Tucker and Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg’s Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law
In Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law, Rabbis Ethan Tucker and Micha’el Rosenberg explore the complex history of the discourses of gender and halakha in Jewish prayer. They provide enough data to challenge what is often the dominant narrative in traditionalist halakhic settings and they offer new ways of framing the discussion of gender…
Read MoreElliot Wolfson’s Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson
Elliott Wolfson’s Open Secret offers valuable insights for those able to penetrate the book’s abstruse style. In the final chapter (coined “Postface”), Wolfson finally reveals his method and hypothesis. (Incidentally, he also reveals that this was the first part he wrote, which was supposed to be the introduction, but in the middle of writing he…
Read MoreFrom the Editor – Issue 30
Dear Kesher Friends, The bulk of this issue comes out of the papers that were delivered at Hashivenu Forum 2016 which focused on Sexuality. It was not too long ago that questions of the place of LBGTQ singles and couples were a taboo topic within Messianic Jewish circles. And it still remains so in many…
Read MoreMessianic Jewish Ethics Concerning Intimacy and Sexuality
Rabbi Stuart Dauermann and Dr. Ellen Goldsmith Introduction Unpacking our assigned topic, we will be addressing five tasks in this paper: 1. We will present an overview and not a complete treatment of the subject; 2. We will examine what intimacy is and its place in the divine scheme of things; 3. We will address how sexuality is…
Read MoreResponse to Rabbi Stuart Dauermann and Dr. Ellen Goldsmith
In the introduction to their paper,1 authors Stuart Dauermann and Ellen Goldsmith (hereafter called authors) state their tasks. These are to present a general, not comprehensive, examination of intimacy as intended by God and how sexuality is integrated into this intimacy. They further intend to propose ethical guidelines for both and to frame them within…
Read MoreResponse to Rabbi Stuart Dauermann and Dr. Ellen Goldsmith
I would like to begin by acknowledging Stuart Dauermann and Ellen Goldsmith for their excellent introduction to our discussion on Intimacy and Sexuality.1 They have presented a thoughtful, and at times brilliant, overview of the topic, and have helped me better conceptualize some of my own thinking on some important related issues. I am…
Read MoreQueer for Jesus: A Messianic Jewish Perspective
Concerning Alternative Sexuality and the Ethics of Identity I am aware that I could have chosen a less provocative title for this presentation. This was a working title that reminded me of an event which occurred over a decade ago and lasted for better than a year. It caused me to re-imagine my relational categories.…
Read MoreResponse to Rabbi Paul Saal’s “Queer for Jesus”
I would like to commend Rabbi Saal for his willingness to address such a sensitive subject.1 His shepherd’s heart and concern for individuals, as well as for the Messianic Jewish community are evident throughout the paper. This is clearly demonstrated in his relational approach to the topic, and his core premise of marginality and identification.…
Read MorePursuers of Peace: A Response to Rabbi Paul Saal’s “Queer for Jesus”
I thank the Hashivenu board for inviting me to respond to Rabbi Paul Saal’s learned, provocative, and gracious essay.1 Let’s begin with a story. The Talmud (Berachot 61b) records that when the Romans forbade the teaching of the Torah, Rabbi Akiva continued to teach it. He explained himself by the following parable: Fishermen were casting…
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