I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Passaic, New Jersey, two blocks from the synagogue, Ahavas Israel. Most of my boyhood friends were Jews. My Irish mother played mah-jongg with her Jewish neighbors. And we were well supplied with matzos during Passover. I attended bar mitzvahs and even the wedding of the daughter of our next-door neighbor. Most of the pupils in my grammar school, which was right next to the synagogue, were Jewish. We used the Jewish community center gym for our physical education classes.
I’ve always had uneasiness with John’s use of the word “Jew” in his gospel. In The Birth of Christianity, Dominic Crossan declares unequivocally that there is no anti-Semitism in the gospel, saying that the use of the word was the result of an internecine dispute. I accepted that but still could not dismiss my unease.
Read Full Article »