Jesus the Pharisee: A New Look at the Jewishness of Jesus

by Harvey Falk

This book is an important and provocative study of the thought of the Pharisees in the time of Jesus and marks the first attempt by a rabbinic writer to demonstrate that Jesus of Nazareth consistently... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080912677X
• ISBN13: 9780809126774
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Paulist Press
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A different take on Jesus

I've read quite a few books on the subject of Jesus. However, this is the only one I've read that was written by an actual Orthodox Jew (not a former one). Not only was it written by an Orthodox Jew, but by one who views Jesus in a favorable light. I personally think any serious Bible student (Christian or Jewish) should read this. I don't think I've read any other book that gives such a fair (IMO) examination of this topic. No, the author doesn't believe Jesus is god or the son of god, as most Christian authors would seem to portray him. But he also doesn't view Jesus as one who led people astray, as many other Jewish authors would seem to portray him. I grew up in the church and never really even considered the fact that Jesus was Jewish (though it's pretty obvious). Even less did I ever imagine he may have been a Pharisee! I hope to read more books like this down the road.

Very informative

Lots of Talmudic info in this book which I enjoyed especially being Jewish as well. Good read over all.

Finally a perspective that holds water

Written by an orthodox Rabbi building on the framework of the renouned 18thC. Rav Jacob Emden, the basic idea is that the "Jesus" movement, which seems to have trained Jewish missionaries to convert Gentiles into "Petrine" Noahides (mind-blowing news about Saint Peter in this book) in anticipation of the destruction of the Temple and comming Jewish exile among the nations, operated fully within the orthodox Jewish framework, as a branch or offshoot of the "Elijahistic" Essene Hasidim. The good-guys are Hillelite orthodox & ultra-orthodox Jews, the bad-guys are Romanized Temple Sadducees (not to be confused with Essene Zadokites), and die-hard political Shammite Zealots (who even disputed their venerable teacher!) -whose halakhah was ruled out by heavenly decree and majority. Intruiging notes on the distinction of different people called Yeshu in Jewish writings leave one begging more questions. Packed with solid references from Jewish literature in their contexts, and a jolly good read all the way. Buy one for you and some for your friends. Well worth the money and you won't regret a penny.

Excellent

Rabbi Falk has done a wonderful job of explaining the Jewishness of Jesus, as well as elucidating Mankind's Universal Laws that Jewish tradition teaches govern all non-Jews. It makes total sense that Jesus, who came first to the Jews, would then want the universal laws of God spread throughout the rest of mankind. This book is a blessing for Jews and Christians and all people who want a better understanding of the first century C.E. (A.D.) and the all-inclusive holy teachings for all human beings. For further reading, I highly recommend Michael Dallen's book "The Rainbow Covenant."

Was Jesus an observant Jew?

Harvey Falk, a rabbinic writer believes that Jesus can only be understood as an observant Jew who upheld most of the doctrine of the School of Hillel against the School of Shammai (although he broke with Hillel on the subject of divorce.) He sees Jesus as on a mission to encourage the gentiles to follow the Noahide laws (the seven commandments given to Noah which all righteous gentiles must follow according to Judiasm in order to achieve salvation.) He sees many condemnations of the Pharisees in the Christian Gospels as reflecting the often quite contentious disputes between the two schools.Falk's style of writing is more likely to be familiar to Jews who have learned Talmudic defenses of halacha than to Christains. Falk goes both forward and back in rabbinic history to justify actions of Jesus. The book is extensively footnoted with reference to rabbinic texts.Although I believe that Falk stretches things at times to indicate that Jesus and his followers always followed Jewish law (picking grain from the field on the Sabbath probably was not to forestall starvation,) he makes an excellent case that Jesus was primarily observant. (Although Christians often believe that healing the sick by prayer on the Sabbath was forbidden (Matthew 12:9-14), it was not explicitly forbidden by Jewish law and the text probably refers to a dispute between the schools of Hillel and Shammai on how high the "wall" should be around the laws of keeping the Sabbath.) The book presents a vivid picture of the first century and its theological disputes. Falk looks at scriptures of Judiasm, Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls to convey the contemporary contraversies of that time.I highly recommend this book both to Christians who want to understand the Jewish roots of Christianity and elucidate heretofore obscure sections of the Gospels, as well as to Jews who want to understand a first century rabbi whose teachings have largely been excluded from Jewish studies. Note that Falk is NOT a messainic Jew and believes in a dual covenant theory of salvation. His book was done primarily to foster understanding and dialogue between the two religions.