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Issues

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the original Torah of God in his hands, he found out that his people had broken one of its commandments. For the Torah he held in his hands said, Thou shalt not make unto thee…any manner of likeness, of any thing that is…in the earth…Thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them…" Our people transgressed this command and, as a result, there was no need for the whole Torah, for we have the record which says, 
<blockquote>
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing; and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount." (Shemot—Exodus 32:19.)
</blockquote>
One command was broken and, therefore, there was no need for the rest of the commandments, for the Torah is one. The Torah was transcribed again but only after full repentance, punishment and restitution was fellowship with God restored.
<h3>The Torah Is One</h3>
According to rabbinic reckoning, there are 613 commandments in the Torah: 248 positive commands, i.e., what we should do; and 365 negative commands, what we should not do. The positive commands correspond to the number of separate parts in our body and the 365 negative commands correspond to the days of the year, so that, throughout the year, we are commanded to do all the commands with all the joints and parts of our body.
Yet we are told that all these commands can be reduced down to one. This was done already by the famous Hillel (a contemporary of Jesus) of whom we are told that, when a Gentile came to him and asked for conversion to Judaism on condition that Hillel would teach him all the Torah while he stood on one foot, Hillel agreed and told him the whole Torah is summarized in one command. "What is hateful to you do not unto others. The rest is commentary." A fuller exposition is found in the Babylonian Talmud (Makkot 23-24):
<blockquote>
Rabbi Salmai gave the following exposition: 613 commandments were given to Moses; 365 negative commands to correspond with the days of the year and 248 positive commands to correspond with separate pieces of man's body…Then came David and made them compact into 11 commands as it is written in Psalm 15, "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? (1) He that walketh uprightly, and (2) worketh righteousness, and (3) speaketh the truth in his heart. (4) He that backbiteth not with his tongue, (5) nor doeth evil to his neighbor, (6) nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. (7) In whose eyes a vile person is condemned, (8) but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. (9) He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. (10) He that putteth not out his money to usury, (11) nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. "…Then came Isaiah and reduced them to six commands (Isaiah 33:15)…Then came Micah the prophet and reduced them to a compact three (Micah 6:8): "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, (1) but to do justly, and (2) to love mercy, and (3) to walk humbly with thy God."…Then came the prophet Habbakuk and reduced all the commands to one, as it is written (Habbakuk 2:4), "The just shall live by his faith. "
</blockquote>
<h3>One Mitzvah* Equals the Whole Torah</h3>
Clearly it was the official teaching of the rabbis that one mitzvah equals the whole Torah. Thus we have it in Midrash Rabbah Exodus 25:16. "Rabbi Levi taught, 'If Israel should keep the Sabbath as it ought to be kept, even for once, then the Son of David (Messiah) would come. Why? Because it is as they would have kept the whole Torah.' " Rabbi Elazar, son of Abina, goes on to explain in the same context that this can be proved in a threefold way from the Torah, the prophets and the writings.
In the same Midrash we have the exposition on Exodus 22:24, "Come and see: he that is well to do and gives charity and does not take usury on his loans, it is as he would have kept all the commands of the Torah."
Should the objection be made that these are extra-important commands and therefore one of them is equal to the whole, the highest talmudical authority warns us saying, "Be careful to perform a minor mitzvah just as well as a major one, for you do not know the reward for each mitzvah." (Aboth 2:1, printed in Daily Prayer Book, Birnbaum's translation.)
<h3>God, Torah and Israel</h3>
The Hassidic saying that, "God, Torah and Israel are one," has its origin in hoary antiquity. Right in the first book of the Torah we are told how our ancestor Jacob became Israel, taking on the name of one God, El, and receiving the blessing of the mysterious Person who struggled with him. After it, Jacob said, "…I have seen God face to face…" (Genesis 32:31.) Our ancestor Jacob is joined to God by rulership and by struggle and now carries the name El, God, in his own name. Possibly the best summary is given by Moses in Devarim—Deuteronomy 30:19,20. He had told his people that the command (singular 30:11) is nigh to the Jewish people in their mouth and heart to do them. Summarizing the covenant, he warns us saying:
I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thee and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days…
<h3>Summary</h3>
The situation we have before us can be summarized as follows: God is one. Rebellion against the angel of the Lord is rebellion against God. "Behold, I send an angel…Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not…for my name is in him." (Exodus 23:20-21.) Rebellion against God's prophet is again rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 18:18-19). The same is the case with rebellion against the Holy Spirit, as is seen in the inspired record, "But they rebelled, and vexed his holy spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them." (Isaiah 63:10.) All aspects of God's manifestation are One.
The same applies to the Torah. One cannot eliminate or change even a letter of the Torah or of the prophets without hurt to God Himself. This is clearly taught in the Talmud and Midrash:
<blockquote>
Rabbi Levi said: Even little things which are only end of letters are actually mountains that can destroy the whole creation: It is written, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One." If you change the letter daled in Echad so that it becomes a resh, you destroy everything. Another example, "Thou shalt not worship another God." If you make a daled of the resh it will come out, "Thou shalt not worship the One God." Thus you will destroy the whole creation. A third example: It is written in Leviticus 22, "And ye shall not profane my Holy Name. " If you change the letter het in profane and make it a hey, it will say, "and ye shall not praise my Holy Name," and so you will destroy the world. A fourth example from Isaiah 8. It is written, "And I will wait for the Lord." But if you change the het in wait to the letter hey, it will come out, "I will smite the Lord." Thus you destroy the world.
—Midrash Rabbah Song of Solomon 5
</blockquote>
Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah expressed this thought a long time before in the sermon on the mount: "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah (Law), till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18.)
The same applies to Israel. Israel is one people. He that toucheth one Israelite toucheth all of Israel. This is well summarized in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 37a.
<blockquote>
Therefore was man created alone, to teach you that he who destroys one Israelite, Scripture considers him as if he would have destroyed the whole world. But he who preserves one Israelite it is as if he would have preserved the whole world.
</blockquote>
<h3>What Does It Mean to Me?</h3>
Yaakov (James), the apostle and brother of Yeshua, the Messiah, reminds his Jewish brethren of the well-known, sacred principle that God is One; the people of Israel are one; the Torah is one. Hence the warning, "For whosoever shall keep the whole Torah (Law), and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10.) Destroy one part of any of them and you destroy the whole. Preserve and keep one part and you keep it all.
What it comes to is simply this: man by himself constantly stands condemned before a holy and righteous God. Man has no choice but to admit with Moses (who himself was forbidden to enter Israel because of his sin at the Waters of Strife as recorded in Numbers 20:12), "'…Oh, this people have sinned a great sin…' And the Lord said unto Moses; 'Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.'" (Exodus 32:31,33.)
With Isaiah we must intone saying, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips…" (Isaiah 6:5.) Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7:20 warns us, "For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." And Eliphaz scores a point when he says, "What is man, that he should be clean? And who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, He putteth no trust in his holy ones; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more he that is abominable and filthy, man who drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15:14-16.)
The question is, are we aware of it? The answer must be a resounding YES! Books would have to be written to quote from our Jewish sources, even if we limit ourselves to the most outstanding references to human sin in general and to Israel's sins in particular. The references in one tractate of Berakhot would be too many to quote. Rabbis one after the other admit that the sufferings they endured and/or the Jewish people endure is a result of some transgression of the Law at one time or another. Only one rabbi stands and claims that his ten fingers kept the ten commandments. But the very boastful claim shows that he is a transgressor in the matter of humility.
On the other hand we have the oft-quoted story of Yohanan ben Zakkai who was visited by his disciples while he was sick. They found him crying and weeping. When they said to him, "Rabbi, you are the light of Israel, the pillar on which we lean, the hammer that crushes all heresy. Why should you weep?" He sincerely confessed and said he was afraid to die because he was not too sure whether he would end up in heaven or hell; enjoy the light of God or be thrown into the darkness of Satan and his host (Berakhot 28, Babylonian Talmud).
Who of us is not acquainted with the Siddur and Mahzor and with the constant confessions and admissions of our guilt and sin? In the Amidah, the Shemoneh Esreh (18 benedictions), we implore God: "Forgive us, our Father, for we sinned; blot out our sins, Our King, for we transgressed."
Who of us has not been to synagogue and constantly smitten our breasts listing all possible sins we might have committed and then summed it in the Hebrew alphabetic confession,
<blockquote>
"Ashamnoo, Bagadnoo, Gazalnoo…We are guilty; we are unfaithful, we robbed; we spoke unseemly; we were perverse and we are guilty; we rebelled, we robbed; and we spoke lies…"
</blockquote>
Even on the most joyous occasions of the three pilgrim festivals, we remind ourselves in the special Shemoneh Esreh prayer that it was "because of our sins that we were driven out from our country and were removed far from our land. Therefore we cannot ascend to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins…"
Yet there is a problem. Sometimes when non-Jewish believers or even when Jewish believers try to share their experience in Jesus with Jewish people and remind them of their sins, there is a strong reaction which usually goes like this: "We haven't sinned. We haven't killed Gentiles, but they have killed us." This defense is justified for the Jewish person wants to say just this: "You being a Christian should identify yourself with all the wrongs Jews have suffered from the hands of so-called Christians and should come and speak softly to us. First confess your sins, the sins of Gentile Christianity; then later you will be able to tell us of what we sinned to God, but not to you."
The whole world stands condemned by a righteous and just God. The whole world can be saved only by the Korban of Messiah Jesus!
*The literal Hebrew translation for mitzvah is command. However mitzvah has two meanings today. The common usage has to do with any act of charity performed. The more traditional meaning refers to fulfilling any of the 613 commandments according to the rabbis.

The Torah: God's Indestructible Book: But It Can Be Broken

Oftentimes, Jews who come to believe in Jesus are told by their unbelieving families, "If you'd only known more about Judaism, if you'd only studied your own religion, you never would have come to believe this way."
My parents never said that to me because, before I accepted Christ, I went to see an Orthodox rabbi on my own initiative.
You see, I had met some Jews for Jesus who had given me some very convincing arguments from the Scriptures apparently pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. However, I was afraid to just "jump in." "How can I be sure?" I thought. My impetuousness had gotten me into trouble in the past. Once I had gotten involved in the occult. Another time, I had come very close to marrying a Gentile girl I knew I shouldn't marry. The only sound thing to do, I thought, would be to see a rabbi and ask him what he thought of these Scriptures. After all, I figured he should know.
<h6>And with more courage than I thought I had in me, I plunged into my own study of Daniel 9.</h6>
Rabbi Bogner and I sat and discussed the many passages the Jews for Jesus had pointed out. We began with the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The Jews for Jesus said it talked about the Messiah. The rabbi said it referred to Israel. Then we studied Jeremiah 31:31-34 which talks of a "new covenant" that God would make with His people. The rabbi just scoffed at this one.
Finally, I brought to his attention Daniel 9, which, according to the Jews for Jesus, told the time of the Messiah's coming.
At that, Rabbi Bogner told me he was prohibited by Talmudic Law from studying that chapter. When I asked why, he said, "Cursed be the man who calculates the time of the coming of the Messiah." He knew that Daniel 9 did indeed contain God's message to us as to when the Messiah would come. But he explained that the Talmud prohibited studying it because of the possible unbelief that could arise from some making incorrect calculations and being disappointed.
But this didn't make any sense to me. Why would God give us a Book and then tell us not to read part of it? I didn't think God played "cosmic games" on us.
I left the rabbi's study a little perplexed. And with more courage than I thought I had in me, I plunged into my own study of Daniel 9. Now I knew I was not a Bible scholar, but I was no dummy either! As a college instructor I felt I had a good grasp of concepts and could follow a carefully reasoned argument to its conclusion. And having been trained as an accountant, I knew I could make whatever mathematical calculations were necessary.
Well, Daniel 9 referred to "an anointed one" being "cut off" after a certain number of weeks. The Hebrew word for "anointed" is "mashiach," which, in Greek, is "christos" or "Christ." Also, in the Bible, to be "cut off" meant to die. I then needed to calculate the number of weeks starting with the rebuilding of Jerusalem as stated in the Scripture verse, "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks." (Daniel 9:25) The only decree to go out was by Artaxerxes in 444 B.C.E. Biblically speaking, a week equals seven years and a sabbatical year, approximately 360 days. My computations were fairly simple, but the answer I got was difficult to accept.
<h6>I could not call this a coincidence. It would be like saying two plus two equals five.</h6>
This anointed one was to die in 32 C.E., the year Christ was crucified. I could not call this a coincidence. It would be like saying two plus two equals five.
I thought about Rabbi Bogner. It did help me to talk with him. For despite the Talmudic prohibition on studying that Scripture passage for fear of resulting unbelief, its study made me into a believer, a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When the Messiah Comes...

<img class="size-medium wp-image-37542 alignright" src="https://live-api.jewsforjesus.org/wp-content/uploads/stuart-dauermann-on-piano-223x300.jpg" alt="" width="223" />In the summer of 1962, I was playing piano in a band in New York's Catskill Mountain resort area – more commonly called “the Jewish Alps.” Being a Jew and a college student, there was nothing unusual about that. But one day I found myself in the very unusual position of witnessing a heated argument between two fellow workers – an argument about Christian theology. Bart, who studied for the Catholic priesthood, and Jerry, who studied with the Jehovah's Witnesses, were disagreeing about something called “the hypostatic union.” I prided myself on being a reader, but I was totally ignorant of the subject at hand.“Oh, well,” I thought,“why do I need to know anything about their goyish (Gentile) book and their obscure theological hairsplitting anyway?”
I had never read the New Testament before this point.
Within a month or two, I was back in Manhattan, immersed in my music studies. Then one day a soft-spoken friend invited me to participate in an informal discussion group she was chairing in the school cafeteria. While eating lunch together, a number of students would read the New Testament and share opinions as to its contents. I was flattered at her invitation and accepted it along with a New Testament she offered me. Actually, I did not quite know how to graciously refuse it. I had never read the New Testament before this point.
Cautiously I turned its thin, fragile pages, expecting to find the strange, gaudy illustrations and rote prayers I'd seen nuns reading on the subway; foreign, alien to me as a Jew, somehow forbidden.
Instead, a glance located familiar names and places: Jerusalem, the Temple, Passover. Not only was I interested, but soon I became captivated by the words and life of Jesus. I found that this New Testament was not a book of alien prayers, but of Jewish history, telling about an extraordinary Jew, of His claims, His teaching and His impact on those who knew and believed in Him. I was especially struck by His analysis of the human predicament: “Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Matthew 15:11). So simple, yet so right.
I saw in these “forbidden” pages how those who so loved Jesus found a new beauty and strength of life and an intimacy with God; an intimacy that reminded me of Abraham, Isaac and the Prophets.
Soon I was no longer able to discount the New Testament as “someone else’s religion,” for it spoke directly to the dry and barren areas of need in my life. My animosity toward Jesus had been replaced with respect, then love, and finally faith.
Through a Jewish book, I had found Him of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews!

What Happened When I Read a Forbidden Book

No Jewish scholar can fail to recognize that the teaching of Jesus forms one of the most unique codes in the world. Dr. Joseph Klausner, for many years professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, states in his epoch-making book, Jesus of Nazareth, His Times, His Life and His Teaching, that in his ethical code there is a sublimity, distinctiveness and originality in form unparalleled in any other Hebrew ethical code."
Although Dr. Klausner admits distinctiveness and originality in the teaching of Jesus, he did not succeed in liberating himself from the general contention that this teaching has its basis in rabbinic literature. It cannot be denied that there exists a striking similarity between some of the teachings of Jesus and those of certain rabbis. But what basis is there for saying that it was Jesus and not the rabbis who indulged in plagiarism?
When the Talmud, in Sanhedrin 100a, attributes to Rabbi Meir the saying: "The measure which one measures will be measured out to him"—a saying identical in phraseology as well as in spirit with that uttered by Jesus in Matthew 7:2: "The measure you give will be the measure you get," Dr. Klausner elected to make of this a case for the rabbis. In the interest of historic accuracy it should be noted that Rabbi Meir was not yet born when Jesus gave wing to the above maxim.
Claude G. Montefiore, no mean an authority in matters Jewish, contended that "When Talmud and Gospels are compared, the originality is almost always on the side of the Gospels." This is no idle statement, but one which can be supported by evidence, as seen in the following parallels:
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<th style="background: #1295d8; color: #fff;">Gospel</th>
<th style="background: #1295d8; color: #fff;">Talmud</th>
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<td>Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.—Matthew 5:7</td>
<td>He who is merciful to others, shall receive mercy from Heaven.—R. Gamaliel Beribbi, 3rd century A.D.,Shabbath 151b</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Let what you say be simply yes or no.—Matthew 5:37</td>
<td>Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.—R. Abaye, died 338 A.D., Baba Metzia 49a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam that is in your own eye?—Matthew 7:3</td>
<td>Do they say, take the splinter out of your eye, he will retort: “Remove the beam out of your own eye.”—R. Johanan, surnamed Bar Napha, 199-279 A.D., Baba Bathra 15b.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”—Matthew 6:31</td>
<td>Whoever has a piece of bread in his basket and says, “What shall I eat tomorrow?” belongs only to them who are little in faith.—R. Eliezer, died 117 A.D., Sotah 48b</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.—Matthew 9.37</td>
<td>The day is short, and the work is much; and the workmen are indolent, but the reward is much; and the Master of the House is insistent.—R. Tarfon, 120 A.D., Aboth 2:15</td>
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<tr>
<td>Freely you receive, freely give.—Matthew 10:8</td>
<td>Just as I teach gratuituously, so you should teach gratuitously.—R. Judah, 299 A.D., Bekoroth 29a</td>
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<td>Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.—Matthew 23:12</td>
<td>He who humbles himself for the Torah in this world is magnified in the next; and he who makes himself a servant to the Torah in this world becomes free in the next.—R. Jeremiah, died 250 A.D., Baba Metzia 85b</td>
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<td>Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.—Matthew 5:10</td>
<td>Be rather of the persecuted than of the persecutors.—R. Abbahu, 279-310 A.D., Baba Kamma 93a</td>
</tr>
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<td>The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.—Mark 2:27</td>
<td>It (the Sabbath) is committed to your hands, not you to its hands.—R. Jonathan ben Joseph, flourished after the destruction of the Temple, Yoma 85a</td>
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How then may we account for the existence of parallels between the Gospels and the Talmud? Matthew, the writer of the first Gospel, relates that the fame of Jesus spread throughout the land, and that many people listened to him eagerly. There are also a number of references in the Talmud telling of discussions between Jewish Christians and leading rabbis, such as recorded in Shabbath 116a, Aboda Zora 16b, 17a and 27b. Would not this indicate that the words of Jesus had become common property, passing from lip to lip, thus entering the Talmud and there sailing under false colors?

The Talmud and the Gospels

"May your name be inscribed in the Book of Life" is the most common greeting for the Jewish New Year season.
From the time of Moses onward, the roll call of the redeemed has been closely linked with <a href="/answers/atonement-questions-and-answers/">atonement</a> (reconciliation with God). The Book of Life held much meaning for other world religions as well.
The ancient belief can also be traced to Mesopotamia. Babylonian religious writings speak of "The Tablets of Transgressions" and "The Tablets of Destiny," which record man's fate. If one's name was written in the sin-recording tablets, it was blotted out of the Tablets of Destiny. According to this legend, every year all the gods got together in a special room in heaven called "The Room of Fate." Marduk, who was the chief god, presided over the meeting. Nabu, the god of wisdom and literature, took notes, recording each man's fate on these tablets. Again, the "Book of Life" concept appears in tablets from the neo-Assyrian period, and there seems to be a hint of the same idea in an ancient Sumerian poem.
Because of these writings, some modern Jewish "scholars" believe that the Sefer Hayyim (Book of Life) was adopted into Jewish tradition as a result of the Babylonian influence. Who's to say, however, that the Babylonians weren't influenced by the ancient Jewish revelation before it was transcribed by the Bible writers?
Other theories have been put forth as to the origin of the Book of Life concept. Some say it corresponds to the civil list, or register, in ancient Judea which recorded all the names of the fully qualified citizens. The idea of a heavenly register, they say, might have been derived from this earthly system so that membership in the Book of Life would mean membership in the divine commonwealth. The Mishnah states that the Book of Life records man's deeds: "Know what is above thee—a seeing eye and a hearing ear, and thy deeds written in a book." (Avot 2.1) The Sayings of the Fathers also compares life to a shop with its open ledger of credit and debit. Following this concept to its conclusion, good deeds can cancel out bad deeds or vice versa. Or, as R. Simeon B. Yohai put it,
<blockquote>
"Even if he is perfectly righteous all of his life, but rebels at the end, he destroys his former good deeds, for it is said, "...The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression...'"(Ezekiel 33:12.) And even if one is completely wicked all his life but repents at the end, he is not reproached with his wickedness, for it is said, "...and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness... (ibid)." (Kiddushin 40a–b.)
</blockquote>
One of the most common interpretations on judgment and forgiveness is found in Rosh Hashanah 16b:
<blockquote>
"Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah: one for the wholly righteous, one for the wholly wicked, and one for the intermediates. The wholly righteous are at once inscribed in the Book of Life; the wholly wicked are at once inscribed in the book of death and the intermediates are held suspended from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they are found worthy, they are inscribed for life; if found unworthy, they are inscribed for death."
</blockquote>
Jewish liturgical writings also mention the Sefer Hayyim: Zakhrenu Le-Hayyim ("Remember us unto life") is a prayer that is said in the daily service from <a href="/jewish-resources/jewish-holidays/rosh-hashanah/">Rosh Hashanah</a> until <a href="/jewish-resources/jewish-holidays/yom-kippur/">Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement</a>. It reads, "Remember us unto life, O King who delightest in life, and inscribe us in the Book of Life, for Thine own sake, O God of life."
U-Netanneh Tokef, a most poignant and stirring liturgical piece, describes what the Day of Judgment will be like: "Let us declare the mighty holiness of the day, for it is solemn and awesome." The prayer acknowledges,
<blockquote>
"True it is that Thou judgest and givest reproof, Thou discernest and bearest witness, Thou recordest and sealest, Thou recountest and measurest; Thou rememberest things forgotten. Thou unfoldest the book of remembrance, and it speaks for itself, for every man's seal is found therein."
</blockquote>
Up to that point, the prayer sounds very ominous, giving man little hope for a positive verdict. But then it concludes with three ways to alleviate the severity of the judgment. Teshuvah is one. It is usually translated "repentance," however a literal translation would render it more accurately, "return." One is not to become a new person, but to return to the "goodness" that is inherent in him according to rabbinical understanding. Tefillah is the second way to making things right. It is usually translated as "prayer" and connotes "attaching oneself." Man is to strengthen his attachment to God. Tzedakah, the last route to forgiveness, comes from the Hebrew word meaning "justice," and is translated "charity." Justice demands that man give to others.
According to rabbinic thought, it is these three: Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah, that will ensure one an inscription in the Book of Life. In Hagigah 27a we read,
<blockquote>
"At the time when the Temple stood, the altar brought atonement for a person; now a person's table brings atonement for him (through the hospitality shown to a poor guest)."
</blockquote>
In other words, without Temple sacrifice for our sin, we can now rely on acts of charity to gain us entrance in God's Book of Life.
Yet the Bible paints somewhat of a different picture of this ledger, its origin and its contents.
Moses knew who originated the Book of Life. When he pleaded with God atop Mount Horeb after the children of Israel committed the great sin of the golden calf, he cried, "Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin – and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou hast written!" (Exodus 32:31–32.) So God Himself is the author and keeper of the Book of Life.
What is recorded in the book? According to the Bible, everything! King David remarks that even his tears are entered in that heavenly journal. (Psalm 56:8.) The Psalmist also speaks of the fact that the days that were ordained him were written in God's book before he was even born. (Psalm 139:16.)
And who will be blotted out of the book? God's response to Moses' plea for the children of Israel was "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book." (Exodus 32:33).
But everyone has sinned against the Almighty. Does this mean that according to the Bible all will be blotted out of the book of life? No. God is just, but he is also merciful. In His mercy, He has always provided a means of atonement, so that we could choose life.
The <a href="/jewish-resources/jewish-holidays/yom-kippur/">Day of Atonement</a> (Yom ha-Kippurim) is first mentioned in the book of Leviticus. It is a solemn day, accented by fasting and praying to God for forgiveness of the sins committed against Him. In the Temple days, the High Priest was the key figure in mediating between the people and God. This one day of the year, he entered the Holy of Holies. This one day of the year, he took a live goat, laid his hands upon its head and confessed "all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions, and even all their sins." Thus he transferred, in symbol, the sins of the people onto the sacrifice animal. This scapegoat was made the victim, the substitute for the human sinner. In accepting the substitutionary sacrifice, God could inscribe His people into the Book of Life. Therefore, it makes sense that the liturgy for the <a href="/jewish-resources/jewish-holidays/yom-kippur/">Day of Atonement</a> concludes with a prayer for inscription in the Book of Life, but with the plea that one be sealed in it.
With the Temple destroyed, the priesthood disbanded, and the cessation of the sacrifices, the rabbis felt they had to improvise. They rationalized, "Repentance and works of charity are man's intercessors before God's throne. " (Shab. 32a.) "Sincere repentance is equivalent to the rebuilding of the Temple, the restoration of the altar, and the offering of all sacrifices." (Pesik., ed. Buber 24.158; Lev. R. 7.; Sanh. 43b.) However, the Bible does not teach these as ways of being inscribed into the Book of Life, for there is no access to forgiveness without <a href="/publications/issues/issues-v06-n04/do-we-need-a-mediator/">a mediator, an intercessor</a>. Moses fulfilled that role when he pleaded with God not to blot the children of Israel out of His book. The High Priests did likewise.
Who can plead our case today? Only God Himself. And that He did, in the person of Jesus. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, the prophet John heralded Him as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." <a href="/publications/issues/issues-v21-n01/the-ultimate-scapegoat/">Jesus served as the substitutionary sacrifice, the "scape-lamb" of God</a>.
In the Machzor, the prayer book for the Day of Atonement we read:
<blockquote>
"Our righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized us, and we have none to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our iniquities and our transgression, and is wounded because of our transgression. He beareth our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by His wound, at the time that the Eternal will create Him (the Messiah) as a new creature."
Form of Prayers For Day of Atonement. Revised Ed. pp. 287–88. Rosenbaum &amp; Werbelowsky, New York, 1890
</blockquote>
With our sins upon Jesus, God's righteous anointed, He can look upon us as righteous and worthy to be entered into the Book of Life.
Jesus told those who believed He was God's anointed, "Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven" (Luke 10:20.) Does it seem strange to link the idea of celebrating the inscription of one's name in the Book of Life to the person of Jesus? The Jewish New Year expression "Le shanah tova tikatev ve-tehatem" is more than a quaint custom. It is an expression of hope for God's acceptance and forgiveness.
At the time of Christ, the ancient Biblical tradition of atonement ceased. Was this merely coincidental? The Kapporah, or sacrifice animal, to accomplish atonement is nowhere apparent in modern Judaism – yet in original Judaism, sacrificial atonement is intrinsic and essential:
<blockquote>
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. (Leviticus 17:11)
</blockquote>
In order to fully comprehend the concept of God recording man's eternal destiny, one cannot stop reading the Bible at the Old Testament portion. Nor can one allow himself to be sidetracked into the forest of contradictory statements which is the Talmud. For understanding, one must read the continuation of the Bible, in what is commonly called the New Testament, to see the true meaning of the Book of Life and to discover how a person is permanently inscribed for eternity:
<blockquote>
"He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My father and before His angels." (Revelation 3:5)
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband... and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:1, 2, 27)
</blockquote>
Had Judaism not rationalized away God's system of sacrificial atonement, then it would not have come to regard the person and atoning work of Jesus as alien. Had it not substituted humanistic and humanitarian value for God's value structure, would not God's remedy of Jesus the "scape-lamb," have made sense?
What a paradox confronts the modern Jewish person! If he would be a faithful Jew according to the Bible and not merely according to the traditions of man; or if he would be God's kind of Jew, then he must be written in the Lamb's Book Life and thus be a follower of Jesus, the Messiah.