RABBI TOVIA SINGER'S DISTORTION OF THE SCRIPTURES

 (5) Christian Zionism, is it possible? With Rabbi Tovia Singer - YouTube

American Orthodox Rabbi Tovia Singer is a fierce advocate for the Jewish faith, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel. Singer moved from Indonesia to Jerusalem in May 2019 and he now lives in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. He is the founder and director of Outreach Judaism, an international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults, by exploring Judaism in contradistinction to fundamentalist Christianity. {1} Singer is the author of Let’s Get Biblical! Why Doesn’t Judaism Accept the Christian Messiah? 

The interviewer, Dr Roi Yozevitch, observed that an Israeli-loving Christian is an oxymoron from the Jewish point of view. This is mainly due to the historic persecution of Jews by the so-called church. A major obstacle for the Jewish people is historical antisemitism and the accusation that they are "Christ murderers". From the fundamental Christian point of view, we know that God has not rejected his people as some teach. According to the apostle Paul, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. (Romans 11: 1-12).

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Romans 11:28-32).

Yozevitch informed his viewers that Orthodox Jews are not allowed to read, or even to have a copy of the New Testament in their homes. We should be under no illusion that Orthodox Jews are an easy group to evangelize; on the contrary, they present a united front and are extremely hostile to the gospel.

Singer is confident and convincing, but he misrepresents the scriptural position on a number of key doctrines. In this post, I will limit my critique to Singer's misrepresentation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as "ritual cannibalism".  

Singer: "Christians teach in the eucharist that you have to eat the body and drink the blood of the messiah Jesus through eating the bread and drinking the wine..  ..to the Christian, when you eat the body and drink the blood, literally Christ dwells in you and you become Christ-like.. it is all about worshipping a God-man who died for your sins and resurrected from the dead, and if you believe in that and his body and blood dwell in you then you are saved and you gain the properties of Christ.. This is what is called ritual cannibalism.."

Singer omits to clarify the parabolic element of Jesus' teaching and his distortions are no doubt repulsive to his Jewish audience. Fundamental bible believing Christians do not believe that when they take communion they are literally ingesting the body and blood of Christ, or that his body and blood literally dwell in them. Realism i.e. the real or physical presence of Jesus in the communion i.e. transubstantiation and its variant, consubstantiation, is generally rejected by fundamental Christians. The doctrine held by many Christians is that the bread and wine consumed in communion are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus. The elements are a remembrance of the atonement Jesus made for our sins on the cross: Do this in remembrance of me - literally, as My memorial, or, as your memorial of Me. (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).

The New Testament scriptures teach that it is by grace through faith that people are saved, not by any outward observance. (Ephesians 2:8). When the bread and wine are taken, we do not believe that we are taking into ourselves the essence or the "life force" of Jesus into our bodies.  Believers receive the Holy Spirit when they believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:2; Acts 20:21; John 6:63).

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever. Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:47-68).

This graphic metaphor caused no small controversy amongst the Jews: ..they began to argue among themselves.. After this many turned back and no longer walked with him. This speech had the effect of weeding out Jesus' superficial followers. His habit was to explain the deeper meaning of his sayings to the twelve privately. (Mark 4:34).

On other occasions, Jesus said, I am the light of the world (John 8:12), I am the good shepherd (John 10: 11,14),  I am the vine (John 15:1), I am the door. (John 10:9).

This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Matthew 13:13).

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

1. RABBI TOVIA SINGER SPEAKER BIO | Outreach Judaism (beyneynu.com)