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Dear Sam, First, how is it possible for the Old Testament to be in existence for so long and for the synagogues to not speak of Isaiah 53? I didn’t grow up in an Orthodox home, but as a Jew I find this
extremely puzzling. Is Isaiah 53
still in Jewish bibles, and is it possible for Jews to read about Jesus by just opening up their own Jewish writings? A Hi Terri, Thanks for writing. Regarding Isaiah 53, in the prescribed weekly readings in traditional synagogues it is simply skipped over. Traditional Jewish teaching considers this portion as referring to Israel as the ‘suffering servant.’ This was not the position of ancient rabbinical thought, but came into existence in the 11th century through the rabbi Rashi, in response to ‘Christian’ anti-semitism, the Crusades, etc. Can a Jew find Jesus simply by looking in their own Bible? Of course, many, such as Rabbi Leopold Cohn and others have come to faith this way. In fact, before the New Covenant was penned, the first century believers relied on the testimony of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms, compared them to the eyewitness testimonies regarding Jesus of Nazareth, and came to the conclusion that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah! Among these prophecies, Isaiah’s 53rd is the clearest profile of Yeshua, and what He accomplished in redeeming us. Hope this helps. Blessings, Sam. Y |
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