This past sabbath, after a little Torah study, I had a conversation with him regarding Messiah, Judaism, Chabad Judaism, and the Pharisees -- the conversation was getting so deep, I stopped him in the middle and said, "I need to get a sound recorder and record this - this is good stuff!"
I didn't have a sound recorder handy, but we did decide to take this conversation online and post it publicly.
The result? The multi-part conversation below is a frank, unadulterated discussion and debate regarding belief in the God of Israel and role of Messiah in that faith. I hope you all find it challenging and thought-provoking; you'll hear things you won't hear in your church! Nor your synagogue for that matter. You might get offended! And you'll almost certainly disagree. Ready?
Without further ado, here is part 1, in which Aaron asserts Yeshua the Messiah was actually a Pharisee. We discuss how this could be and what the implications would be if Yeshua (Jesus) was indeed a Pharisee...
Yeshua the Pharisee?Aaron:
So Judah... after some study of the religio-political atmosphere of the first century, I came to a conclusion that is far different than what most of Christianity and Messianism believes. And that conclusion is: Yeshua was a Pharisaic Rabbi. And in fact, he was a netzer (sprout) out of the House of Hillel. What say ye?
Judah:
You said your conclusion of your studies was that Yeshua was a Pharisaic rabbi. I can already hear Christians cringing and quickly rushing to quote something from the gospels where Messiah rebuked the Pharisees -- why would he rebuke a Pharisee if he were one himself?
I think Yeshua was not a Pharisee by how the Western world defines a Pharisee. (That is, a corrupt, outward-only, legalistic teacher of Judaism.)
So here's the $64,000 question: how do you define a Pharisee? Before we can say whether Yeshua was a Pharisee, we must answer this question.
Aaron:
Good questions! I agree with you that Yeshua definitely was NOT the kind of Pharisee that is defined by the western Christians. And the problem itself is the misconception of the Pharisee.
As the House of Judah (the Jewish people) came back from Babylonian exile, only a very small fraction resettled in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). Those who did were the ones who were most zealous for Torah.
These Jewish returnees who came out of Babylonian exile and settled in Eretz HaKodesh (the Holy Land) eventually became divided into 3 groups. One of those groups/sects of Judaism were the Pharisees.
The word Pharisee (Hebrew: P'rushi) comes from the Hebrew root word "parash" which means to be separated, to be distinguished, or to define. The Pharisees called themselves this because they separated from the many Hellenistic influences.
There arose two houses of Pharisaism headed by two opposing Rabbis. One was Hillel, the other Shammai.
Rabbi Shammai had much stricter halachot (ways in which to keep Torah). The House of Shammai had wealthier members than did the House of Hillel. In fact, the Talmud records that Rabbi Hillel was never wealthy - even when he had the opportunity to be. Rabbi Hillel, even after becoming a great Rabbi, decided to have very little.
Rabbi Hillel was also very lenient and accepting to the unlearned Jew and the gentile convert. There are many stories in the Talmud which show Rabbi Hillel's patience with people who came to him with questions and for help.
Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef lived a life that greatly paralleled Rabbi Hillel's (Rabbi Hillel died when Yeshua was young). It was a life of righteous humility (not self-loathe), a life of elevating others at one's own expense - the hallmark of a righteous Rabbi.
Now for the Scriptural evidence to back up what was said above...
In Yochanan (John) 1:27, Yochanan/John HaMatbeel (the Immerser), who was from the Essene community (the Essenes being another sect of Judaism in the first century which produced many believers in Yeshua) was being questioned by some Pharisees about who he was. Near the end of the questioning, Yochanan tells them, in verse 26 and 27, "standing among you... is the one coming after me (Yeshua)". As you can read in the next few verses, Yeshua was NOT literally physically standing among the Pharisees that day... Yeshua was of the Pharisees.
Nakdimon (AKA Nicodemus), who is recorded in the Brit Chadasha ("New Testament") as a believer in Yeshua, and the man who met Yeshua at night to speak with him. He is also recorded in the Talmud as being a very righteous Rabbi (of the Hillel sect of Pharisees)!
Also, after his supposed "conversion", Rabbi Shaul of Tarsus (AKA Paul) makes the following statement: "I am a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee"-Acts 23:6
It is a documented fact that the Netzarim (Nazarenes), who were a sect of Judaism that believed in Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef as Moshiach, were a coalition of Pharisees and Essenes. In fact, as you can read in the Talmud (which is a compilation of Pharisaic writings) and Essene writings that Rabbi Yeshua taught many Pharisaic and Essene principles and teachings - mostly Pharisaic, House of Hillel halacha and Essene spiritual teachings.
Also, after the destruction of the Temple, the only remaining sects of Judaism were the Netzarim and Pharisees. They lived in peace and harmony together, studied together, often times were literal blood brothers and sisters, and synonymous - all until the time of the Bar Kochba revolt, where a major split between them began to take place.
Hope that wasn't too long!
Judah:
Interesting. So our modern definition of a Pharisee is a misconception -- not all Pharisees were the outward-only, legalistic teachers we often think of. As evidence of this, you state how Paul called himself a Pharisee, how Nakdimon (Nicodemus) was a righteous Pharisee, and how Messiah's teachings aligned with the Hillel sect of Pharisees. Here's another thing to munch on: before Yeshua made the famous statement about the 2 greatest commandments of Torah, that is, the Sh'ma and to love your neighbor as yourself, before any of that, Rabbi Hillel made the statement,This statement was uttered at least 20 years before Messiah's birth, yet Hillel and Yeshua align.What you yourself hate, don't do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study.
You also mention Rabbi Hillel embraced humility, embraced the poor, was lenient and patient in Torah. This is also a staple of Yeshua: always humble, embraced the poor and lowly rather than the rich and haughty.
These cases show yet more alignment between rabbis Hillel and Yeshua, and this is what leads you to believe Yeshua was a Pharisee.
Can we say Messiah was influenced by Rabbi Hillel, as many other Pharisees were? Or do we say no man can influence Messiah, and that the reason Messiah and Hillel aligned was because Rabbi Hillel's teachings were righteous and perfectly aligned with Torah?
In part 2, we'll hopefully get an answer to this question: since Hillel and Yeshua had such similar teachings and lived very much paralleled lives, is it possible Yeshua was influenced by a righteous rabbi of his day? And what about the differences between Yeshua and the Pharisees of his day - what a contrast! How does that fit? Looking forward to these answers myself!
If any of you fine blog readers have questions, or think we're dead wrong, or have a different view, please say so in the comments! All feedback is welcomed. We love discussion and debate and may address them as the conversation progresses.
Shalom!