We reviewed the book Why Jews Rejected Jesus by David Klinghoffer. Rich Schwartz led the discussion and cited the author was writing from an orthodox point of view, which does not represent all Jewish points of view. The author’s thesis was twofold. First, to accept Jesus did not conform to traditional Jewish legal framework and second, Jesus did not conform to the Torah dictum of the Messiah coming being a direct line from King David and accompanying a world conquest and peace.
Spiritually, there was a great distance between the Jewish concept of salvation on earth, in the here and now and the Christian concept of salvation in Heaven. While all Jewish belief segments do not conform in all aspects, the Jewish belief system both now and in past centuries does not allow for one human, however presented, to represent a path to salvation.
The next meeting will be at the home of Norton Schwartz on the third Wednesday in March, where the book The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel Jones Brown, will be discussed.
—Norton Schwartz
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