Most people do not think about it, but our Christian/Catholic faith grew out of Judaism and continues many of the same values and worship. I have grown to see this in so many ways. I was very fortunate to have contact with Judaism while in High School. My first job was at a local clothing store owned by Abe Brown, a practicing Jewish man. I started there when I was just 16 doing mostly menial work. As I came to know Abe, and his family, I saw the faith that they shared as a close knit Jewish family. Abe was always so kind to me and treated me with great respect. That impressed me. I worked my way up to being a sales person. He gave me so many positive values.

Several years later, I also was fortunate to find a great Jewish family who helped my wife and me out while I was newly married and in the service. I had just moved to a new assignment at Fort Hood, Texas and had only thirty two dollars in my pocket and no where to stay. The Army base housing unit put me in contact with Abe Weiss, a good Jewish man who owned a local clothing store. I was impressed by the similarity to my situation in my home town. Mr. Weiss owned some apartments and had one available in about 10 days. We hit it off very well and I told him that I was not sure what to do as I had only thirty two dollars to my name, and no where to stay until then. He told me that he had a spare bedroom in his house and invited my wife and me to stay there until the apartment was available. He also told me that we could join him and his family for his meals. Not only that, but he called the Red Cross and arranged for them to give me sixty dollars so that I could have some spending money. I thought to myself, what a good Christian thing for this Jewish man to do. I later found out that helping others was a very Jewish thing to do, a mitzvah, and Christians learned it from them. His hospitality inspired my wife and me to, several times, open our homes to those who were in need and crossed out path.

Recently, I had a person who I knew from the YMCA gym tell me about a dire situation that he was in. He was 40 years old, between jobs, and living in a very unpleasant, and possibly harmful situation. He didn’t have the money to get his own place, and seemed stuck in this bad housing that he was in. I prayed about it and felt the Lord tell me to invite him to live in one of the spare bedrooms that I had. He took me up on that and it has worked out very well for both of us. His mother told me that it probably saved his life and that she was so relieved by it. This man was Jewish by birth and choice, and had lived on a kibbutz in Israel to strengthen his faith. He is quite proud of his Judaism and has also embraced Jesus as the Messiah. I guess you could call him a Jewish-Christian. He says his Jewish prayers from his Sefer and also says Christian prayers, I have learned a great deal from him about Judaism. He is very intelligent and knows how to read and speak Hebrew. He asked if he could pray, out loud, his Jewish prayers (see picture) in my home and I told him that he could. I pray the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours and invited him to do so with me. He downloaded the free app IBREVIARY and we pray morning and evening prayers TOGETHER and he also prays his Jewish prayers. We also sometimes pray the long Office of Readings together. It is a marvelous time for both of us.

A few years ago I made friends with the Jewish Rabbi who headed the reformed synagogue in Patchogue. Recently he was transferring out of state and invited me to come to his last Shabbat service. Of course I brought my new housemate and we prayed there for 3 hours. It was beautiful. My friend hit it off well with the Rabbi, both spoke Hebrew, and the Rabbi asked him to read from the sacred scriptures. He was so thrilled. The Rabbi asked me to offer a prayer. It was a great time. I was so impressed by the reverence that was shown to the Torah, the sacred scriptures. I felt God’s presence there in such a real way. I had done many Inter-Faith services in that synagogue and felt the holiness there, but this time, being present with the Jewish liturgy, made me feel the holiness even more.

When you think about Christianity, it rose out of Judaism. Jesus, and His twelve apostles were all Jews and lived out the Jewish faith. The Christian scriptures (the New Testament) tell us about how the early Christians would go to their own homes for the “breaking of the bread” (the Eucharist) but go to the temple for the prayers. Those Jewish prayers evolved in to the Liturgy of the Hours that Bodhi and I pray together every day. There is no doubt that Christianity and Judaism share deep historical and theological roots. Even the Catholic mass has many parts that relate back to the Jewish passover liturgy. We both share the same Old Testament and we both pray daily prayers using the psalms. We both place a high value on TRADITION and the importance of communal prayers and of doing good deeds. I can’t help but to think of another good deed, or mitzva, that another good Jewish friend of mine did. He and I grew up in the same town and went to the same High School and knew each other, but really developed our present friendship through Facebook. We share many of the same values. He loves his Judaism, and I love my Christianity. A few years ago I was chosen as the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s day parade in my village. Without telling me, he came from out of state to celebrate with me. His mitzva in doing that meant so much to me.

As much as there is similarity between Judaism and Christianity, there are differences. It is important to recognize those and respect each other. In the Vatican II council, the Catholic church recognized that the Covenant that God made with the Jewish people is a very real and STILL existant part of His plan. Even though many Protestant religions feel the need to evangelize the Jews and make them Christians, Catholics do not do this. I think that it is import for us to celebrate both are similarity, and our difference. God chose the Jewish people as the “apple of God’s eye”. Christianity arose from Judaism and we both recognize ONE GOD and see Abraham as our father of faith. We both live by the ten commandments and the need to treat our neighbor well, and help meet his needs. We both look forward to the end of time where God will make all things new and redeemed. God is good.