Who killed who?

BS”D

Who killed who?

Shalom and thank you for your question! We are sorry to hear about the unpleasantness of your situation. You have contact with non-Jewish people who accuse Jews of having killed the founder of the Christian religion.

According to some historical opinions, it was a Roman ruler in Israel at the time, Pontius Pilate, who had him killed. There are different opinions historically and in the Talmud as to who Jesus really was. There are, apparently, a number of different persona that he could have been. The amount of Jews who have been tortured, raped and murdered throughout the ages in retaliation for this alleged sin is so staggering, that in all fairness one must laugh at the audacity to bring it up!

All this is not really relevant to your question though.

If you were in grade school and you had a large nose, and children were teasing you because of it, and name-calling, including the idea that Jews have large noses, what would the solution be? Would you then have  to look up historical evidence to refute their claim? You have a right to a large nose, you have a right to be Jewish, and those who persecute you for it are doing just that – persecuting you!

You are experiencing persecution for being Jewish.

The thing to do is hold your head up high, and not answer, beyond saying perhaps, “If that is what you wish to believe, so be it.” You see, the fact that you have tried unsuccessfully to refute their arguments means that they are not interested in the facts, or in being proven wrong. They are interested in giving you a hard time.

If these ‘accusers’ will see in front of them a confident person, who has no internal dissonance regarding himself and his faith, they will eventually give up.

So how do you go about achieving this state of confidence and faith? It is highly recommended that you do some more research about your faith.

The Jewish religion is based on belief in the unity of G-d. This means that we believe that all of creation was created by G-d and is constantly being recreated, and the world has been undergoing a process of rectification since it was originally created, to arrive at the state of Messianic times, when the rectification process will be totally complete, which we are anxiously waiting for.

When the Jewish people received the Torah, they said: “We will do and we will hear…” (Book of Exodus, 24:7.) Why did the Jewish people say “We will do” before “we will hear?” (understand.) We believe that the Torah and the Oral law which helps us understand how to apply the Torah were handed down directly from G-d to Moses and from Moses to Joshua, and so on throughout the generations. In every generation we have spiritual leaders who can guide us. The sages teach us the explanation to the above question. It is certainly incumbent on us to use all the mental facilities we have to try to learn and understand the Torah, but even before that we must commit to doing – namely to keeping G-d’s commandments as laid out in the Written and the Oral law, meaning the Five Books of Moses, and the Oral law. When we LIVE according to the Torah and its teachings, this affects us. It is a cycle, doing-affects-understanding-affects-doing. When you are in this cycle in a proactive manner, the outside ‘noise’ of such accusations will not leave you flustered, and in fact they are likely to cease.

A good place to check out how to increase your learning and observance is the Chabad house that is nearest to you. In any event, having more Jewish friends and Jewish activities will surely help you feel stronger and more confident.

We wish you much success!