CONTENTS'''.

LPPINION

24

CLOSE-UP

Tough Study

SUSAN WEINGARDEN
Violent death is no
stranger to Detroit
medical examiner
Werner Spitz.

55

SPORTS

Getting Their Kicks

MIKE ROSENBAUM
The Southfield High team shows
special prowess on the soccer field.

62

LIFESTYLES

CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
What's hot, what's happening and
the lighter side of community
activities.

A "Jew for Jesus" confronts an Orthodox Jew on a Jerusalem street.

Recognizing Messiah: Serious
Responses to Glib Missionaries

DR. ROBERT LEVINE

was saddened to read in his letter
(Oct. 30) that Alan Rosenthal has
given up our Jewish traditions. Having
been harangued by missionaries while in
medical school, I'd like to share a way to
deflect their arguments.
A simple demonstration of how to
refute missionaries is warranted here, as
Mr. Rosenthal has offered "proofs," based
on biblical passages, that Jesus was the yet-
awaited Mashiach.
He writes in his letter that "Holy Scrip-
tures tell us that Messiah will come before
the destructin of the Second Temple, be
born in Bethlehem, be a descendant of
King David, do miracles, enter Jerusalem
on a donkey and be despised and rejected
by many in Israel." He then implies that
Jesus is the Messiah and that "it doesn't
take a Talmudic genius to figure out." This
laundry list is typical of "proofs" I was
given while at school in Ann Arbor. The
first step is to read the original text.
The Torah doesn't say the Messiah will
precede the destruction of the Second Tem-
ple. Read Daniel, Chapter 9, verse 25 — the
Hebrew mashiach nagid, meaning "one
anointed, a ruler," refers to Cyrus, King of
Persia. Lauded in the next chapter and
Ezra 1:1, he returns the Jews to Jerusalem
to rebuild it after the First Temple was
destroyed. Isaiah, in Isaiah 45:1, calls
Cyrus "His anointed." Missionaries

I

Di: Levine is a resident at Henry Ford Hospital in
internal medicine.

mistranslate mashiach into "messiah"
rather than "anointed." They interpret
from this that the Messiah came before the
Second Temple was destroyed. Fallacy
number one: a mistranslation.
The Torah doesn't say that the Messiah
will be born in Bethlehem. Read Micah 5:1
which names "Bethlehem Ephratah" as
the father of a future ruler. Samuel 17:12
clearly says "David was the son of that
Ephrathite of Bethlehem." King David is
the subject of this verse, not Messiah or
Jesus. Fallacy two: misidentification.
The Torah does say that the Messiah
will be descended from King David. While
Christian text (Matthew 1) takes pains to
show that Mary's husband Joseph is a
descendant of David, it also says that
Joseph is not Jesus' father: that Jesus had
a divine father. The lineage to David is
broken. Fallacy three: a stretched
interpretation.
Miraculous occurrences may accom-
pany the Messiah, but the Torah saying
this doesn't prove any particular person is
Messiah. Whether Jesus performed
miracles is a matter of faith among Chris-
tians and based on the Gospels; it cannot
be proved or disproved based on Torah.
Fallacy four: circular reasoning.
Riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is
not unusual today, let alone 2,000 years
ago. The relevant passage from Zechariah
9:9 says "Behold, your king come to you,
lowly and riding upon an ass." Jesus was
never thought of as a Jewish king, nor did
he have dominions from sea to sea and to

Continued on Page 10

64

Kristallnacht
Revisited

JOSEPH AARON
Vandals in Chicago go on a rampage
damaging Jewish shops and
synagogues.

ENTERTAINMENT

69

In a Mellow Mood

HEIDI PRESS
Dick Shafran's soft
rock helps ease
the tension of the
long drive home.

L'CHAYIM

center

Family Section

This special section tells why
Thanksgiving is especially important
to Jews.

COLUMNISTS

2

72

Philip Slomovitz

Danny Raskin

DEPARTMENTS

38
90
97
100
101

Synagogues

102
106
107
108
133

B'nai B'rith

Seniors

Business

Engagements

Weddings

Births

Youth

Single Life

Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

November 20, 1987 -4:49 p.m.

TWC

nc-rorwr

KICIAM

9