Open Letter to a Christian (unless)

Greetings and happy Easter:

I write to inform you that my family and I received the greeting card you sent us wishing us a happy Easter. Incidentally (coincidentally?) it arrived on the first night of Passover, a very important holiday to us.

Your message to my family was as follows:

                    Enjoy this glorious season of His love!
                    May the wonderful victory of Easter
                    Be with you  
                    Each day of the year.
                    Have a Beautiful Easter!

I note that you signed your children's names to the bottom, along with your own.

There is nothing wrong with this message, in and of itself. Had you sent it to a family that actually celebrates Easter, it would be a fine and glad tiding.

But your decision to send it to us was wrong. Very wrong. And you know why.

You know we are Jews. You know our children are Jews. You know that our family prays to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to that God only. You know that we do not celebrate Easter. You know that we have no wish to have an Easter, beautiful or otherwise.

You may also be aware that Easter has historically not been a very pleasant day for Jewish people.  Not too long ago, Jewish people were made to attend compulsory church services in which we were hounded and vilified for not accepting Jesus Christ as our God. Only decades ago, Easter was a popular day for Christians to actually, physically, assault Jews in broad daylight, inspired by the prayers they heard at the Easter services in their Churches.

Happily for us, the means have changed. Sadly, your goal has not. I am aware that you still believe that our faith is unacceptable. I am aware that you are told, by your pastors, that our very existence as practicing Jews is unacceptable. I know it is your life's goal and your heart's delight to turn me into a Christian; or short of that, turn my children toward your faith and against our family and tradition.  I have a hunch that this is precisely the reason why you sent this card.

But you are wrong to do it. Your faith in the rightness of your action is wrong, no matter how sincerely you feel it. Your pastors are wrong to tell you to do it. It is not a message of love, it is a message of hate.  It is not a message of inclusion, it is a message of bigotry. When you send messages like this to Jewish people, you are essentially telling us that you refuse to be Christian unless we stop being Jewish.  You are asking us to believe that Jesus Christ, who loves us all so much, and commands you to love us as your brethren, wants us to turn our backs on our own covenant--one that we have faithfully pursued, often at great risk, sometimes at the expense of life itself. You are asking us to disrespect our families and our ancestors, to devalue the sacrifices they made to keep our culture and religion alive, to say that it was all for nothing. And worst of all, you ask us to forsake our faith, which we hold as sincerely as you hold yours-Jesus Christ himself would not send us a message like this.  As a Jew who sacrificed his life for the sake of other Jews, he would never ask us to so dishonor our ancestors, who made equal or greater sacrifices, often at the instigation of your church.

Ask yourself something. Your Church has been at this for over 2000 years; trying to convert all of the Jews to Christianity. In that time, it has managed to kill a lot of Jews, but it has not converted very many. Your efforts have been frightening, grotesque, violent and insulting--but one thing they have not been is persuasive. A few data points.

                   --It is now the year 2012 of the Common Era

                   --There are around 13 million of us, all over the world, and most of us are thriving

                  --We have regained the State of Israel, and it, for all of its political problems, is an economic
                     powerhouse and global leader in technology

                 --We are honored the world over for our achievements in government, philanthropy, science,
                    technology and every other conceivable human endeavor

                --Many Christians (I would argue the real ones) have come to accept us, just as we are

Is this the description of a people accursed by God? Could we have done all of this, for two millennia straight, notwithstanding the obstacles Christians put in front of us, if God did not love us?  Would we still be here today, celebrating Passover alongside you celebrating Easter, if God did not want us around?  You were not able to convince us with threats or violence.  Do you honestly think you will now succeed with Hallmark cards?

Your efforts have been a failure, because your quest is wrong. The road you are going down is a dead end. It is a rutted and ugly track that can offer you nothing other than a bitter journey, and you will not be satisfied at the end.

Because there will be Jewish people two thousand years from now, just as there were two thousand years ago. Your descendants, having inherited your distasteful legacy will still be angry and distressed that we have not changed. But there we will be.

With that in mind, and in the generous and loving spirit of Jesus Christ, I would like to offer you an alternative.  Love us. Love us as we are. Love us as Jesus would.  He does not have to be a wall that separates us--Jesus can be a bridge that unites us.  We both honor Him, you as a deity, we as a heroic leader of our people who tried, and sadly failed, to liberate our ancestors from Roman oppression. We mean you no harm, and we wish you no ill.  Christianity has accomplished a great deal of good in this world, and many Christians today are engaged in the most constructive activities imaginable, from feeding the hungry, to curing disease, to aiding and comforting those in need. We admire these efforts and support them entirely. Let us all honor Jesus Christ by uniting around those attributes of him that we all admire, and work together to repair this world. We have no desire to change you. If you accept us, think of all the good we can accomplish.

Of course, you could continue on your current path. But know this: You will fail.  There have been Jewish people for five thousand years, and there will be Jewish people in five thousand years.  We are fully prepared to wait you out, and we will thwart your present efforts at every turn. We are prepared to keep our covenant and hand it down to our children and our children's children, even if it costs us our lives.  We have proven this time and again. Count on it.

Because no matter what you say, and no matter what they tell you in your Church, God loves us--and he loves us as much as he loves you, and for this reason, the road you are on will not lead you to salvation in this world, or the next.

You can make the decision to change, but ultimately, it is up to you, and the consequences will be yours to live with.

Think it over.

Blessings.