To those of you/us wondering – now that we have been talking about how it is possible to be a Christian without rejecting one’s Jewish background, what does that look like in practice? – here’s the beginning of an answer from a particularly thoughtful member of our tribe. Thanks to Brother Gilbert for helpfully distinguishing five types of Hebrew Catholics. Fasten your seatbelts: it means one of (at least) five things!
Currently, and in line with previous posts, I am inclined toward the third type – the kind that wants Christian Jews to be part of Israeli society. Ironically and sadly, I no longer live in Israel (and haven’t for longer, at this point, than I ever did); my being of the third type, then, translates more broadly into wanting to find ways for Jewish Christians to be, in a meaningful sense, part of Jewish rather than Gentile society.
The next set of questions to explore for me: How does Orthodox ecclesiology interact with the Hebrew Catholic identity? I’ll be thinking about that for the next few weeks, but would love to hear from anyone who has any thinkings on the topic!
The Groom's Family 