TFN no.5754.1 143-146

CCAR RESPONSA

Selling Ritual Objects to Jews for Jesus

5754.1

She’elah

Should a synagogue gift shop knowingly sell Jewish ritual objects to anyone, Jews or Christians, involved with Jews for Jesus, and how far should we go in ascertaining a person’s identity for purposes of selling any of these items? Should the gift shop knowingly sell Jewish ritual objects to Christians who say they wish to make use of them in order to “recover the Jewish roots” of their Christianity? (Rabbi Joan S. Friedman, Bloomington, IN)

Teshuvah

  1. This Committee has repeatedly taken the position that Jews who affiliate with Jews for Jesus or with the various “Messianic Jewish” movements are apostates and should be treated as such. These individuals “should not be accorded membership in the congregation or treated in any way which makes them appear as if they were affiliated with the Jewish community, for that poses a clear danger to the Jewish community and also to its relationships with the general community.”1 If so, then it is arguable that we ought not to sell them objects which they will use to perform their pseudo-Jewish rituals. This conclusion would be based upon the verse (Leviticus 19:14) “do not place a stumbling-block before the blind,” which our tradition reads as a prohibition against leading others unwittingly into transgression.2 On the strength of this rule, one is forbidden to hand a cup of wine to a nazir, lest he be enticed to break the vow he has taken against drinking intoxicants.3 Similarly, one may not hand forbidden food to an apostate Jew; despite his apostasy he remains a Jew, and the food is still prohibited to him.4 To sell ritual objects to Jews for Jesus would aid them in the performance of religious services which amount to a renunciation of their Judaism. They are forbidden to do that, and we are forbidden to help them do that. In addition, the use of Jewish ritualia helps them create a false impression in the minds of those Jews who visit their churches. By presenting their evangelical Christian theology in Jewish garb, these movements attempt to persuade Jews in search of religious identity and spiritual fulfillment that one can be a perfectly good Jew–indeed, a “completed Jew”–by “accepting Jesus.” We have every reason not to cooperate with the efforts of any Christian denomination, no matter how “Jewish” they appear, to missionize our people and to encourage them to abandon the faith of Israel.

Against this, one might argue that by selling ritual objects to Jews for Jesus we do not in fact place a “stumbling-block” before them. The sources cited above suggest that the prohibition applies only when the nazir or the apostate could not have committed the sin without the Jew’s assistance. If he could have gotten hold of the forbidden substance on his own, he would in any event have violated the commandment. Thus, the Jew who helps him obtain it is not the exclusive agent or cause of the transgression.5 In our case, since the ritual objects are widely available and could be purchased elsewhere, the fact that we sell them does not cause the Jews for Jesus to do anything they would not otherwise have done.

This argument, however, does not succeed. Even if our action does not technically violate the Toraitic commandment in Leviticus 19:14, rabbinic ordinance forbids us to assist other persons in committing a sin. The fact that “they would have done it anyway” is hardly a justification for our helping them do it. Moreover, Jewish tradition holds that we have a positive duty to try to prevent them from committing the transgression.6 If we cannot dissuade them, we must at the very least refuse to involve ourselves in their act.

Still, there are other and valid arguments in favor of selling these items. The first has to do with the difficulty of determining just which unfamiliar customers are indeed Jews for Jesus. Should we push our inquiry too far,7 we risk insulting persons with legitimate reasons for purchasing ritual objects. Should we refuse to sell ritualia to any and all persons who are unknown to us, we may appear to have something to hide. Such behavior on our part may well threaten the good relations we seek to establish with the non-Jewish community, in itself an important traditional value; the Talmud teaches that some legal requirements with respect to the Gentile world are to be relaxed “for the sake of peaceable relations” (mipnei darkhei shalom).8 Second, there is the factor of dina demalkhuta, dina, the law of the land. Civil rights laws may prohibit us from refusing to sell to customers on religious grounds. Third, these purchasers, even if they are Jews for Jesus, might learn something. It is arguably better, for example, that they read a Jewish haggadah rather than a messianized version that turns the three matzot into the Christian Trinity, the Pesach sacrifice into Jesus, the seder into the Last Supper and the wine and matzah into the Eucharist. It may be that a positive and open response to these people will encourage them to keep an open mind about Judaism, perhaps some day even to return to it. If our goal is that these people might one day pursue the path of teshuvah, we might think twice before pushing them away.

  1. The second part of the question deals with Christians who wish to use Jewish ritual objects as part of their own liturgical observance. Here, the prohibition of Leviticus 19:14 does not apply. Christianity is not a form of idolatry;9 thus, by selling Jewish ritual objects to Christians, we do not aid them in performing rites which are traditionally forbidden to the “children of Noah.” We can imagine a number of legitimate purposes for which the Christian customer might want these objects: as gifts for Jewish friends and relatives, for example, or as part of an educational display. Moreover, if Christians desire to use these objects as a means of “recovering their Jewish roots,” that is their business and not ours. On the other hand, we must be concerned that a Christian church which “Judaizes” its appearance may, like Jews for Jesus, give the mistaken impression that its worship service is somehow a “Jewish” one.

 

Conclusion.

Bearing all this in mind, our advice is as follows:

  1. It is appropriate to ask a customer who is unfamiliar to us why he or she wishes to purchase a ritual item. This “inquiry” should be limited to normal conversation and “small talk.”
  2. If we ascertain that customers are Jews for Jesus or Christians who want to use the ritual items for purposes we deem Jewishly inappropriate, we may discourage them from making the purchase. For example, we can inform them that the gift shop exists to serve Jewish needs. We can let them know our deep feelings about the sanctity of these items, our belief that they ought to be used solely within a properly Jewish context. We can direct them to books and educational items which may serve their purposes just as well.

After this degree of discouragement and suggestion, we probably have no choice but to sell to customers who insist on buying. As long as we make the gift shop open to the community, it must be open to the entire community.

Our conclusion assumes this elemental fact: synagogue gift shops, no less than Sisterhoods, Brotherhoods, and schools, are agencies of the synagogue. They exist not simply to sell merchandise and to raise funds, but to help the synagogue fulfill its religious and educational goals. As much as is possible and practicable, the gift shop should refrain from conducting its business in ways that are inimical to basic values of Jewish life and faith as we understand them. It is therefore appropriate for the gift shop staff to take reasonable steps to discourage what we would consider the improper use of our religious objects.10

 

Notes

  1. Contemporary American Reform Responsa, # 68, pp. 109-112. See also CARR, # 66, pp. 107-108 and 67, pp. 108-109; American Reform Responsa, # 150, pp. 471-474; and R. Walter Jacob, Questions and Reform Jewish Answers, # 110, p.175 and 242, pp. 395-396.
  2. Sifra to Lev. 19:14; see Sefer Hachinukh, mitzvah 232.
  3. Avodah Zarah 6b.
  4. Tosafot, Avodah Zarah 6b, s.v. minyan; Hil. Harosh, BT. Avodah Zarah 1:2. Lev. 19:14 applies as well to non-Jews; thus, a Jew must not assist a Gentile in worshipping idolatry, which is prohibited to all people as one of the seven Noahide laws.
  5. Avodah Zarah 6b; Tosafot and Hil. Harosh loc. cit.; see also Alfasi, Avodah Zarah, fol. 1b, s.v. minayin.
  6. See the commentary of R. Nisim Gerondi to Alfasi, loc. cit.; Tosafot, Shabbat 3a, s.v. bava; R. Menachem Hame’iri, Beit Habechirah, Avodah Zarah 6b; Chidushei Haritva, Avodah Zarah 6b. The latter cites the mishnah in BT. Gitin 61a, which declares that we do not aid and abet transgressors, and the rule that “all Jews are guarantors for each other (kol yisra’el areivim zeh bazeh; BT. Sanhedrin 27b and Shevu`ot 39a), which implies a positive duty to prevent other Jews from violating the Torah. He might have cited Lev. 19:17, “you shall surely rebuke your fellow,” as well.
  7. There is some question as to whether we need to inquire at all. Since most of those who come to our gift shops are not apostates, we might rely upon the majority principle (rov) and regard those whom we do not know as members of that category. See Tosafot, Pesachim 3b, s.v. ve’ana, and Tosafot, Yevamot 47a, s.v. bemuchzak.
  8. Gitin 61a; Yad, Matanot Aniyim 7:7 and Melakhim 10:12.
  9. This conclusion is the result of a long debate within Jewish legal literature, one which continues within in Orthodox circles. While Maimonides (Yad, Avodat Kokhavim 9:4 in the uncensored texts) declares Christians to be idolaters, R. Menachem Hame’iri (Beit Habechirah, Avodah Zarah, pp. 46, 59, and elsewhere) excludes both Christians and Muslims from this designation. Many Ashkenazic authorities rule similarly, though without noticeable enthusiasm (see Hil. Harosh Avodah Zarah 1:1; Isserles, SA, YD 156). Our Reform tradition follows Hame’iri, without any hesitation. Our understanding of the nature of idolatry, of Christian teaching, and of our ethical duties toward our fellow human beings demands that we strip from Christianity any hint of the label avodah zarah. See ARR, # 6, pp. 21-24, and the sources cited there.
  10. See also R. Walter Jacob, Questions and Reform Jewish Answers, # 242, pp. 395-396.

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If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.

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