Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
will illuminate the covenantal way and guide it forward. When should
one most look forward to those kinds of events? In time of great
despair and setbacks. That is the time to anticipate the messiah. To
those committed to the triumph of life, goodness, and justice, the
moment of great injustice is the time to look forward even more to
messianic redemption. When evil reigns supreme, the true balance
and direction of history has been disturbed. The only event that can
correct such imbalance is a major redemptive move on the other side.
The logic of covenantal redemption explains why Judaism, in fact,
generated Christianity. One might argue that generating Christianity
is a necessary sign of Judaism's vitality. It is a sign that the dynamics of
the covenant are operating. If Judaism did not generate messianic
expectations, did not generate a messiah, it would be a sign that it was
dead. As long as Jewry is generating messiahs, it is faithful to its own
As long as Jewry is generating messiahs, it is faithful to its
own calling.
calling. If Judaism does not generate messiahs—at least until the final
messiah does come and straighten out the whole world—then there is
something wrong.
(In writing about the Holocaust, I once wrote that I was ashamed of
the fact that, in this generation, there was not at least a false messiah.
A false messiah would show that the Jews were truly living up to their
vocation, which is to hope and expect the messiah, particularly in
such tragic times. If one hopes for the messiah and a false one shows
up—well, it is regrettable but at least one has tried. Not to generate
even a false messiah is a sign that people are complacent; they have
either lost hope or do not care.)
The later event which illuminates the earlier event and guides us to
its fulfillment is the messianic moment. This is why I believe the early
Christians were faithful Jews when they recognized Jesus. Like good,
faithful Jews, they were looking for the messiah, particularly in a
different century. Lo and behold! They recognized his arrival. That is a
very faithful response of a Jew—to recognize that the messiah has
arrived, and to respond.
The early Christians were equally faithful, and equally acting out of
loyalty to their Jewish understanding, when they responded to a
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