Jews on Christianity and Judaism
April 1, 2016
TWO quotes from a compilation:
When a male Jew is called to the Torah, he recites the traditional blessing, ‘asher bahar banu mi’kol ha’amim’, praising God ‘who has chosen us from among all other nations.’
When Jews recite their daily morning prayer they say the benediction, ‘she’lo assani goy’, thanking God ‘that he has not made [us] gentiles.’
When they pronounce the benediction over the Sabbath [Saturday] wine, they declare that God has chosen and sanctified Jews from all other peoples in the same way which he has distinguished between Sabbath and weekday.
When Jews make Havdalah on Saturday night, they recite the traditional ‘ha-mavdil’, glorifying God for setting Jews apart from all other peoples just as He set apart the sacred from the profane and light from darkness.
Jewish author Alfred Jospe, JOSPE, p. 10-11
Another quote:
… the Jewish form of prayer differs both in heart and in outline from any other species of prayer in the world. The difference is the difference between one approach to God and another.
Mohammedans and Christians humble themselves before their deities. The Christian in church. The Mohammedan wherever he may happen to be when the muezzin announces the hour of prayer.
The Jew has everything very carefully arranged. God belongs in the synagogue. He, the Jew, belongs in the marketplace.
God has only one business. It is to look after the prosperity of Israel. The Jew walks briskly into his synagogue three times a day, at set hours, to remind God of this important business.
Samuel Roth, in his book ‘Jews Must Live’.
