Judaism and Christianity Part 3: The Kidron Valley, "Tanach" vs. "OT," and Apostasy
Q. Hello, I'm doing research on the geography of the Holy Land. There's one spot I can't find, not even on Google. It’s the south side of Kidron Valley on Mt. Olive in Jerusalem. Where can I get an image of that land mass?
A. Thanks for your question. I'm afraid I have literally no idea.
Q. This seems to be a great secret. I asked three other Jewish rabbis and all claim the same thing. Perhaps you all know what's going to happen there.*
*(The Kidron Valley is where Jesus will return to Earth according to some Christian beliefs.)
A. It's not a religious thing, it's just a geography thing. I'm no geography buff and there's no reason I would have particular access to this information in a professional capacity. To me, asking about the Kidron Valley is as out of left field as asking about Grand Teton or the Kennecott Copper Mine, about which I also have no information. You'd probably have more success reaching out to cartographers than to rabbis.
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Q. I was wondering what's the difference between the way the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament is structured and how the Tanakh is canonized.
A. Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what you mean by how it's structured and how it's canonized. By structure, do you mean, for example, the way that books like Ruth and Chronicles appear earlier in Christian Bibles than they do in Jewish Bibles? By canonized, do you mean the process of canonization (like the Council of Trent was for the Vulgate) or do you mean the reason for the inclusion and exclusion of various books, such as the Apocrypha and the Wisdom of Ben Sira?
If you'll clarify the meaning of your questions, I'll do my best to answer. In the meantime, here is a link to a PDF of a pamphlet that may answer some of your questions.
(I never received a follow-up clarifying the question.)
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Q. What was the quality of Jesus as a Jew that made him able to spread his thoughts and make about three billion, two hundred million followers and be known as the most popular religion? Was he an apostate? If so, why does he talk about God?
A. Since I'm not a Christian, I don't believe in Jesus the way he's described in the Christian Bible. If there was a historical person upon whom such tales were based, I don't believe he said or did the things attributed to him. So, I have nothing to say about Jesus in this matter.
To answer your question in the general, an apostate is not necessarily an atheist. If a person turns his back on the tenets of his faith, he may be an apostate to his original religion, but he can still talk about God.
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Q. Is someone like me even still considered Jewish? My mother is Jewish, and I was raised Jewish. As an adult, I converted to Christianity. Now I'm moving away from Christianity and back to my Jewish roots. I was never baptized, as I never had strong enough faith in Jesus to take that step. Is someone like me still considered Jewish or am I an apostate as some Jews on social media claim?
A. Thanks very much for your question. I shared it with a poseik (an authority in Jewish law), who responded as follows:
You should tell her she is definitely Jewish.
One who is born Jewish is always Jewish and there is no way to stop being Jewish.
Just like one who is born to parents cannot change who their parents are. As much as you can ignore them, they are still your parents forever.
But it is recommended as part of the teshuvah (repentance) process that she go to the mikvah (ritual bath).
Additionally, she should find a study partner to learn about what Judaism is and how special she is to be Jewish.
Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.