{"id":4741,"date":"2021-07-07T01:21:54","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T06:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/?p=4741"},"modified":"2021-07-17T06:24:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T11:24:27","slug":"being-a-true-jew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/being-a-true-jew\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a true Jew…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Our father Abraham is called ha-ivri (\u05d4\u05b8\u05e2\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9) – \u201cthe Hebrew,\u201d a term that means \u201cone who has crossed over\u201d (\u05e2\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05e8) from another place (Gen. 14:13). The famous medieval Torah commentator Rashi literally identified this \u201cother place\u201d as Ur Kasdim (\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05e8 \u05db\u05b7\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd), located east of the Euphrates River, though the midrash (Genesis Rabbah) spiritually identified it as the realm of idolatry: \u201cThe whole world stood on one side, but Abram crossed over to the other.\u201d Abram separated himself from a world steeped in idolatry and polytheism by worshipping One God who is the sole Creator of all things…. Understood in this way, being \u201cHebrew\u201d means being regarded as an \u201cother,\u201d a \u201cstranger,\u201d or an \u201coutsider\u201d to idolatrous worldly culture. Therefore all those who “cross over” from the realm of death to life because of Yeshua are rightly called \u201cHebrews\u201d (John 5:24).<\/p>\n

The term “Jew,” on the other hand, refers to one who praises the LORD (\u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05bc\u05d3\u05b8\u05d4). The word (\u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05bc\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9) comes from a root (\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05d4) which means to \u201cconfess\u201d or to \u201cpraise\u201d God (Gen. 29:35). The Apostle Paul alluded to this by saying that one whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit is “one who is praised by God — not by men” (Rom. 2:29). \u00a0Being a Jew therefore means you are \u201cchosen\u201d to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the healing of the world. The performance of various mitzvot are for the greater purpose of tikkun olam, the \u201crepair of the world,\u201d in order to reveal God\u2019s goodness and love (Eph. 2:8-10). Doing so makes someone a Jew, since his praise comes not from man, but from the LORD. God is the source and the power of what makes a true tzaddik (righteous person). After all, Israel was meant to be a \u201clight to the nations\u201d (Isa. 42:6; 60:3), and God had always planned for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory through his chosen servant Abraham (see Gen. 12:3; 22:18). \u201cJewishness\u201d is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing to the nations… Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures centers on the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the \u201ccurse\u201d by means of the “Seed of the woman” who would come. The gospel is Jewish because it concerns God\u2019s great redemptive plan for the whole world (John 3:16; 4:22).<\/p>\n

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