About the Author

Zev Garber is professor emeritus and chair of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Los Angeles Valley College and has served as visiting professor of Religious Studies at University of California at Riverside, Visiting Rosenthal Professor of Judaic Studies at Case Western Reserve University, and as president of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of two academic series, Studies in Shoah (UPA) and Shofar Supplements in Jewish Studies (Purdue University Press), and serves as co-editor of Shofar.

Reviews

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, Vo. 30, No. 3, 2012
The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation, edited by Zev Garber. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2011. 405 pp. $59.95.
Zev Garber, distinguished scholar of Judaica and editor of The Jewish Jesus, dedicates this volume to its "courageous and devoted" contributors: "Jews, who practice the faith of Jesus, and Christians, who believe by faith in Jesus. By the authority of Torah and Testament, they merge as one in proclaiming the Jewish Jesus and restoring his pivotal role in the history of Second Temple Judaism and beyond."
This dedication helps us understand the primary aim of this volume, which is to show that Jesus was firmly rooted in his Jewish religious identity, that, as Garber claims,"he lived and died as a faithful Jew" (p. 1). This is a view shared not only by the nineteen contributors to this book who are at the fore- front of Jewish-Christian relations, but also by a growing number of religious authorities and scholars, including even Pope Benedict XVI. In his recent book Jesus of Nazareth, the Pope states that "Jesus lived by the whole of the Law and the Prophets, as he constantly told his disciples" (p. 333). Pope Bene- dict's affirmation of Jesus' Jewish religious identity obviously is not intended to diminish Christian faith in Christ, and this is certainly not the intent of Garber and his book's contributors who show us that Christians may affirm classical Christian dogmas about Christ while also acknowledging Jesus' com- mitment to Judaism.Pope Benedict also says in Jesus of Nazareth that reading Rabbi Jacob Neusner's book A Rabbi Talks with Jesus "has opened my eyes to the greatness of Jesus' words" (p. 69). This statement reflects another of aim of The Jewish Jesus--to promote interfaith learning and mutual respect between and Jews. If the Pope's appreciation of Jesus' words can be enriched by read- ing a contemporary r

THE JEWISH JESUS: REVELATION, REFLECTION, RECLAMATION.
Edited by Zev Garber. Pp. 405. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue
University Press, 2011. Paper, $59.95
Through the centuries, the relationships between Christians and Jews have all too frequently been characterized by mistrust and even hatred on both sides. More recently, the atmosphere has shifted, first because of the Shoah, and second because of Vatican II and Nostra Aetate. Thus, there is greater openness between Jew and Christian than ever before, and the recent spate of books concerned with Jewish-Christian relations attests to this.
Indeed Zev Garber, the editor of this book, cites several examples (p. 9 n. 1).
Obviously, Jesus is the central figure in Christianity. For Judaism, he is much more peripheral, yet because he lived and died within Judaism, it is pertinent to assess what he means--if anything--for Jews and Judaism today. Thus, he is the common denominator for all the essays in this book. Zev Garber presents nineteen essays by Jewish and Christian authors on Jesus, specifically Jesus as a Jew. The book emerged from a three-day conference in 2009 entitled "Jesus in the Context of Judaism and the Challenge to the Church" (p. 8). Approximately half the essays originated in that conference; the remainder were invited for the volume (p. 8).
The book is divided into three parts: "Reflections on the Jewish Jesus" (chapters 1-7), "Responding to the Jewish Jesus" (chapters 8-12), and "Teaching, Dialogue, Reclamation: Contemporary Views on the Jewish Jesus" (chapters 13-19).
The first section, "Reflections," primarily deals with Jesus as presented in the New Testament and by prophecy from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Garber (pp. 13-19) begins with an essay on the New Testament as midrash, an interpretation of Jesus' life and message, and finds that he was a Zealot sympathizer (p. 14). Bruce Chilton follows with a discussion of Jesus' Kabbalah; that is, his mystical union wit

Jewish Libraries Reviews Newsletter, September/October 2012 Volume II, No. 3

"The Jewish Jesus "is an outstanding collection of 19 essays: each deals with the Jewish nature of Jesus in thecontext of history and theology. A number of the essays were originally presented at a symposium on "Jesusin the Context of Judaism and the Challenge to the Church," hosted by the Samuel Rosenthal Center for JudaicStudies at Case Western University in 2009.Part one is an historical examination of Jesus based upon classical texts, including "kabbalah", various mysticaltracts, and "Midrashim", with the notion that he was a rebel Nazarene Rabbi. Part two is devoted to the relationshipof Judaism to Christianity in broad, thematic terms. Particular focus is placed on the tensions that emergedonce Christianity was firmly established and conflicted with its theological and cultural origins, along withwhat is considered as Jewish misunderstandings of Jesus. Part three is a diverse collection of essays that dealwith Jewish scholarship on Jesus and the impact of Judaism on the belief system brought about following thedemise of Jesus. One argument presented in this section is an analysis of four Jewish thinkers' reclamation ofthe true origins of Jesus, providing a service to inter-faith discussions. Questions at the end of each essay guidethe readers in further discussions examining ideas that are presented. Overall, this is a testament to the vitalityof a continuing Jewish-Christian dialogue as well as a subject for study by Christian bible scholars and thoseinterested in early Church history. - "Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba College, Salisbury, NC"


Book News - June 2011

For all the myriad views of Jesus, there is pretty close consensus that he lived and died a faithful Jew, and theologians and biblical scholars here explore the ramifications of that for Jews and Christians then and now. Among the perspectives are the Kabbalah of rabbi Jesus, the suffering of the Jewish messiah and Jesus, the Jewish and Greek Jesus, Jewish responses to Byzantine polemics from the ninth through the 11th centuries, introducing evangelicals to the Jewish Jesus, Edith Stein's Jewish husband Jesus, and the Jewish Jesus in a dialogue between Jews and Christians. (Annotation (c)2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)


Choice
June 2012

The Jewish Jesus: revelation, reflection, reclamation, ed. by Zev Garber. Purdue, 2011. 405p bibl index ISBN 1557535795 pbk, $59.95; ISBN 9781557535795 pbk, $59.95. Reviewed in 2012jun CHOICE.
This excellent collection addresses what it means--both historically and theologically--to take seriously the Jewishness of Jesus. The first of three sections is largely devoted to sharply focused historical examinations of Jesus or classic texts. Bruce Chilton's "The Kabbalah of Rabbi Jesus" and James F. Moore's "The Amazing Mr. Jesus" open fresh perspectives on Jesus by considering him through the lenses of mysticism and midrashim, respectively. The second section explores the relation between Judaism and Christianity in broader, more thematic ways. The titles of fine essays by two veterans of Jewish-Christian scholarship in the section signal the breadth of topics considered: Richard Rubenstein's "What Was at Stake in the Parting of the Ways between Judaism and Christianity?" and Eugene Fisher's "Typical Jewish Misunderstandings of Christ, Christianity, and Jewish-Christian Relations over the Centuries." The final and most diverse section includes Michael Cook's telling critique of Jewish scholarship on Jesus and Shaul Magid's enlightening analysis of four contemporary Jewish thinkers' attempts to "reclaim" Jesus. These 6 essays, along with the 13 others in the collection, exhibit the continuing vitality of scholarship growing out of Jewish-Christian dialogue. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. -- S. Gowler, Berea College




Jewish Ideas Daily
June 15, 2011
The past half-decade has seen a spate of books on the topic written by Jews, with titles like The Misunderstood Jew and From Rebel to Rabbi. In 2007, the Christian scholar Peter Schafer published a challenging study on the place of Jesus in the Talmud. The newest entry in the field is a collection of essays edited by Zev Garber, The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation.
While the collection is composed in part of papers presented at a 2009 symposium, the word "reclamation" is a tip-off that the editor's interest in the subject is not merely academic. The Church's task, as represented in this volume, is to foster a more positive and respectful relationship with those who, according to the book's dedication, "practice the faith of Jesus." For Jews, acknowledgment of Jesus' Jewishness opens the door to a deeper and more constructive relationship with those who, in turn, "believe by faith in Jesus." In short, reflection on the Jewishness of Jesus promises to serve as the basis for enhanced Jewish-Christian dialogue.
The contributions to the volume are quite varied. The first section, "Reflections on the Jewish Jesus," focuses primarily on the historical relationship of Jesus to the Jewish communities of his day and the reception of his teachings by Jews living during and shortly after his lifetime.
The second section of the book, "Responding to the Jewish Jesus," provides a glimpse into the long history of Jewish attitudes toward Jesus and Christianity and Christian attitudes toward Judaism. These attitudes are, needless to say, quite at odds with those that Garber seeks to promote. Over the centuries of Christian oppression and Jewish cultural resistance, most "dialogue" took the form of polemic and disputation, in which each side caricatured the other's beliefs. Eugene J. Fisher's essay, which closes the section, suggests that such caricatures, born of ignorance as much as animosity, have not disapp

Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 47:2, Spring 2012
This collection of essays aims to draw out the implications--for contemporary Jews, Christians, and the Jewish-Christian dialogue--of the fact that "the incarnate Christ of Christian belief lived and died a faithful Jew" (p. 1). The nineteen essays fall under three rubrics: (1) "Reflections on the Jewish Jesus," which includes considerations of Jesus, e.g., within the merkebah tradition (Bruce Chilton) and as an ancient Jewish thaumaturge (James F. Moore); (2) "Responding to the Jewish Jesus," which treats, inter alia, the parting of the ways (Richard L. Rubenstein), possible pre-modern images of the Jewish Jesus (Norman Simms), and a historical survey of typical Jewish misunderstandings of Christianity (Eugene J. Fisher); and (3) "Teaching, Dialogue, Reclamation: Contemporary Views on the Jewish Jesus," which brings the discussion up to the present with a wide thematic and practical range, from Edith Stein's understanding of Jesus as her own Jewish spouse (Emily Leah Silverman) to how the Jewish Jesus is variously addressed at one Evangelical Christian college in the United States (Christina M. Smerick).
Situating Jesus in sundry Jewish milieux, this volume offers a thematically, historically, and methodologically rich palette that will prove useful for students and scholars of scripture, ancient Judaism and Christianity, the Jewish-Christian relationship throughout history, and contemporary interreligious dialogue. Garber's specific aim is to promote the current scriptural dialogue between Jews and Christians by (1) encouraging Christians to proclaim their faith in Jesus without having recourse to the long tradition of anti-Judaism, and (2) encouraging Jews to become more aware of and sensitive to the faith claims of Christianity that grow out of Judaism in various ways. Whereas precisely such interreligious work is both noble and absolutely necessary in our post-Holocaust world, the search for common in