R. Shmuley Boteach has made the news, once again, with his book Kosher Jesus. I have not yet read the book and cannot offer an opinion on its merit. The idea, though, of a Jesus figure who is acceptable to traditional Jews is hardly new. However, any Jewish Jesus must be a non-Christian Jesus, and therefore any revisionist attempt to construct such an image will be theologically offensive to most Christians.
A “kosher” Jesus is one who would cringe at the most fundamental claims of Christianity, who would lament the very founding of the religion and his central place within it. That is why defenders of Judaism against Christian missionaries are often quick to accept such “Kosher Jesus” claims and why the Disputation literature advances variations on them. Advocating a “Kosher Jesus” is equivalent to defending Judaism and attacking Christianity.
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