Can a Christian, in good conscience, pray to hashem - the Jewish name for God?

[tampasteve]

Jesus was far from the only one who recognized the centrality of the greatest two commandments. For example, from Shabbat 31a:

On another occasion it happened that a certain non-Jew came before Shammai and said to him, ‘Make me a convert, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.’ Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit that was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, he said to him, ‘What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah, the rest is the commentary; go and learn it.’

Ah yes, I have read that story before. The rabbis actually ended up agreeing with Jesus in the long run on some other matters that were prohibited by some streams of Judaism at the time, for example putting salve/ointment on someone's eyes on the sabbath if the eye is inflamed.

 

[Soyeong]

Ah yes, I have read that story before. The rabbis actually ended up agreeing with Jesus in the long run on some other matters that were prohibited by some streams of Judaism at the time, for example putting salve/ointment on someone's eyes on the sabbath if the eye is inflamed.

As the Messiah of Judaism, Jesus certainly had an impact on Judaism, but it is not as though he was divorced from the culture of which he was raised, and Hillel predated Jesus, so it is anachronistic to say that he ended up agreeing with Jesus.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

The way to worship God is by testifying about His nature, for example, our good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law bring glory to God by testifying about His goodness (Matthew 5:16). God’s goodness in eternal, so the way to worship God by testifying about His goodness is therefore also eternal. While Jesus expounded up the way to testify about God’s nature, he did not start a different way to worship Him.

The Lord’s Prayer has the same structure as the Amidah, which is a major prayer in Judaism only next to the Shema, so he did not start a different way to pray.

In Deuteronomy 4:2, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Mosaic Law, after all, God’s nature is eternal, so the way to testify about His nature can’t change, which means that Jesus did not introduce different commandments. In regard to the debate between the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai, Jesus was virtually in complete agreement with the House of Hillel (for reference, Hillel was the grandfather of Gamaliel, who was Paul’s rabbi (Acts 22:3)). So Jesus did not practice a different form of Judaism.

Well, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [John 4:23]

 

[Soyeong]

Well, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [John 4:23]

In Ezekiel 36:26-27, the Spirit has the role of leading us to obey the Mosaic Law, and in Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so obedience to it is the way to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

 

[dzheremi]

Judaism is not a salvific way of life. The Messiah has come, and those who do not recognize Him now will be nevertheless reliant upon His mercy on the last day. So we would do better to recognize Him now, rather than spend our lives being frivolous with our eternity because we are enamored (well, some of us are) with all the 'cool' or 'spiritual' stuff we see in Judaism. I think this attraction to Judaism or Jewish culture among most Christians who display it is a tacit (and no doubt subconscious) acknowledgement that they cannot identify (with) any other culture they see in the scriptures. This is a cause for sorrow, not jubilation over blowing the shofar or pronouncing Hebrew words correctly or whatever nonsense.

In other words, OP, no. Unless you are a natively Hebrew-speaking Christian or ministering to Hebrew-speaking people in Israel (and there are both in Israel proper, particularly, it seems, among some of the Russian Orthodox), there is really no reason to pray to "Ha-Shem", and even then, a Christian must know and respect the proper boundaries between their religion and those of others.

I do not worship some generic god who could even be described by "Ha-Shem". I, like all Christians, worship the Holy Trinity --Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is our God, as this is how He has chosen to reveal Himself, not just to us, but to everyone (Jews included).

 

[Soyeong]

Judaism is not a salvific way of life.

In Acts 21:20, they were rejoicing that tens of thousands of Jews were coming to faith who were all zealous for the Torah, which is in accordance with believing in what Jesus accomplished through the cross (Titus 2:14), so Jews coming to faith in Christ were not ceasing to practice Judaism. This means there was a period of time between the resurrection of Jesus and the inclusion of Gentiles in Acts 10 during which all Christians were Torah observant Jews, so Christianity at its origin was the form of Judaism that recognized Jesus as the Messiah, which means that to deny that Judaism is a salvific way of life is to deny that Christianity is a salvific way of life. Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and it is by the Torah that we have knowledge of what sin is (Romans 3:20), so living in obedience to Torah is the only salvific way of life, which is Judaism.

In John 4:22, Jesus said that salvation is of the Jews, but if Judaism were not a salvific way of life, then that would mean that none of the Jews in the OT were saved. In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Torah, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith. In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so knowing God and Jesus is the goal of the Torah, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which again is salvation by grace through faith, which is also why Jesus said that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying God's commandments (Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28).

The Messiah has come, and those who do not recognize Him now will be nevertheless reliant upon His mercy on the last day.

Again, Acts 21:20 reports that tens of thousands of Jews were coming to faith in Messiah. Judaism teaches to believe in the Messiah, so the issue is recognizing who he is.

"In the town of Berditchev, there was a proud, self-proclaimed atheist who shared with anyone who would listen his problems with a cruel, uncaring God. The great Chassidic Master Rebbe Levi Yitzchak approached him. After the atheist vociferously explained why he doesn’t believe in God, Reb Levi Yitzchak turned to him and said, “You know, the God you don’t believe in, I don’t believe in him either.”"

Many Christians present the Messiah to Jews as someone who did away with the Torah, however, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, the way that God instructed His people to determine that someone is a false prophet who is not speaking for Him was if they taught against obeying the Torah, so if Jesus had done that, then Jews who rejected him as a false prophet for that reason would have been correctly doing what God instructed them to do, so Jews should not be blamed for rejecting a Messiah that as been falsely presented to them.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact image of His nature, so he is the embodiment of holiness, righteousness, goodness, justice, mercy, faithfulness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and other aspects of God's character, and Jews believe in embodying God's character in obedience to the Torah, which is the only salvific way of life. The way to worship the Father is by embodying His character in obedience to the Torah, which is identical to the way to worship the Son, so I don't seek a good reason to doubt the salvation of Jews who worship the Father.

So we would do better to recognize Him now, rather than spend our lives being frivolous with our eternity because we are enamored (well, some of us are) with all the 'cool' or 'spiritual' stuff we see in Judaism. I think this attraction to Judaism or Jewish culture among most Christians who display it is a tacit (and no doubt subconscious) acknowledgement that they cannot identify (with) any other culture they see in the scriptures. This is a cause for sorrow, not jubilation over blowing the shofar or pronouncing Hebrew words correctly or whatever nonsense.

Again, Jesus said that obedience to the greatest two commandments is the way to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-28), so Jews who are doing that are not being frivolous with their eternity, but just the opposite. Understanding the Jewish cultural and historical context of the NT is vital to correctly understanding it.

 

[Soyeong]

If, however, your question is should Christians follow the Mosaic Law, then I think that question was answered in the time of Paul. Gentiles, who were not given the Law, were not expected to keep it, save on a few points. Jewish believers in Christ, though, were given the Law, and I would be very hesitant at saying they shouldn't keep it. It's not a question of salvation; salvation is through Christ for both Jew and Gentile. It's a matter of the command of God.

In Matthew 4:15-23, Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, which was a light to the Gentiles, and the Mosaic Law was how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so repenting from our disobedience to it is a central part of the Gospel message. Furthermore, Jesus set a perfect example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked. So Christ spent his ministry teaching his followers how to obey the Mosaic Law by word and by example and Paul should not be interpreted as saying that followers of Christ shouldn't follow him.

While the Mosaic Law was given to Israel, it was given to Israel in order to equip them to be a light and a blessing to the nations by turning the nations from their wickedness and teaching them to obey it in accordance with the promise and with spreading the Gospel. Gentile are expected to refrain from sin and again it is by the Mosaic Law that we have knowledge of what sin is. Our salvation is from sin, so while we are not required to obey it in order to earn our salvation, living in obedience to it through faith in Jesus is intrinsically the content of the gift of him saving us from not living in obedience to it, and the position that Gentiles do not need to obey the Mosaic Law is the position that Gentiles do not need salvation or the Gospel. The Mosaic Law is God's word and Christ is God's word made flesh, so it is contradictory to think that salvation is through relying on God's word made flesh, but not through relying on God's word.

 

[Aaron Rich]

Modern day Judaism is definitely not a branch of the Christian faith, yet many Christians have the deepest respect for Judaism, and some Christians have sought out their "Jewish roots", blowing a shofar at their meetings, praying according to various forms used in current Judaism, or otherwise engaging with Judaism as Christians. So, can a Christian, in good conscience pray to Hashem (the name), with Jews in times of stress or need?

If we consider how Jesus spoke about God and how all the Apostles spoke about God, this idea is right in line with their practice. HaShem is a circumlocution. Nothing more. When an observant Jew is in the synagogue they will pray using "Adonai" when they are outside the synagogue speaking about God they will refer to "HaShem." It's in practice to avoid using the revealed name of God.

This is precisely what Jesus taught through His practice. We never see Him using the name of God. He says "Father" most often. When He says "Kingdom of Heaven", He isn't talking about heaven, but is rather using another common circumlocution. It is the Kingdom of Y.H.V.H literally, but Kingdom of Heaven is the way to avoid saying it literally. The Son of Man at the Right Hand of Power is another where Power is in place of God's name.

A person can spend hours going through all the mentions of God in the New Testament and find any number of examples of circumlocutions. It's quite literally the prayer we are taught with "Our Father" as the beginning. So is it ok to pray to HaShem? I don't see any evidence in scripture that would suggest otherwise. It's guarding His name which is the command.

I find it interesting how some people are saying they haven't heard of such a thing. Messianic Judaism is becoming a pretty big movement within the Body. It's been resurfacing for nearly 200 years now. There are several ministries that can introduce you to it. First Fruits of Zion has done a teaching called "HaYesod" or "The Foundation" which helps explain the basic concepts of this movement. It's pretty cool to see how many people are finding it. There are other ministries too a quick Google away. It's worth digging into it. If you don't agree with it, I'm fine with that too. We can study together in peace.

 

[The Liturgist]

Modern day Judaism is definitely not a branch of the Christian faith, yet many Christians have the deepest respect for Judaism, and some Christians have sought out their "Jewish roots", blowing a shofar at their meetings, praying according to various forms used in current Judaism, or otherwise engaging with Judaism as Christians. So, can a Christian, in good conscience pray to Hashem (the name), with Jews in times of stress or need?

Hashem literally means “the name.” However in Christianity we believe in a different God than is worshipped in Judaism, or at the very least, we understand the identity of that God very differently. In Rabinnical Judaism, God is interpreted as existing in ten sephirot, through mystical Kaballah, while being a single person. In Christianity, God is three persons in a union of eternal love, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Many Jews converted to Christianity, and descendants of early Jewish converts are primarily found in the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Melkite Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the various churches of the St. Thomas Christians in India, who are very heavily descended from the Kochin Jews of Kerala (but are also descended from gentile Indian converts). Indeed they are called St. Thomas Christians because it is there where St. Thomas the Apostle received the crown of martyrdom, after a Hindu rajah threw a javelin at him. Hindu persecution of Christians remains a problem to this day, and I would say that on the whole, after Communism and Islam, the Hindus are probably tied with the Buddhists, who contrary to popular belief can be extremely violent, as experienced by the Nepalese minority in Bhutan, for being the worst offenders when it comes to persecuting us.

Now, that being said we are absolutely right to pray for Jews, and we should do so, particularly because of a recent increase in anti-Semitism even among official institutions, which punishes Jews for their religion because of the actions of the State of Israel following a terrorist attack, which is grossly unfair, something which my friend @tampasteve has been rightly distressed about. It is unfair because the US responded in a similar way to 9/11, and the terror attack which caused the lamentable violence actually killed a higher ratio of Israelis relative to their total population, and was thus objectively worse in terms of the percentage of the population killed. But if one disagrees with the actions the US and Israel took after being attacked, which is a political viewpoint which I do not feel competent to disagree with, since as a clergyman I must cater to people who hold both views, it is still wrong to hate the Jews over it, because not all practitioners of Judaism live in Israel, support the Israeli regime, or support the specific actions of the Netanyahu government, and that is what makes the recent anti-Semitism disturbing.

The actual conduct of joint prayer services with the Jews is more controversial, and there were canons enacted by the early church which prohibited it, however, I feel that to a large extent the recent experience, for example, with Jewish and Christian chaplains serving together in the US military, in many cases heroically, has changed things quite a bit. The correct attitude is probably to regard our prayers as being in parallel with those of the Jews, since we both intend to pray to the God of Abraham, even if we differ in terms of who we identify that God as being, since specifically, as Christians, we believe God to be Jesus Christ. However, we have not done in a good job for many centuries in evangelizing Jews, and the way we treated them for the past five hundred years in particular was horrible, and an unwarranted persecution according to both the text of Holy Scripture and the praxis of the early Church, which, while critical of Judaism as a religion, did not, as a rule, mistreat Jews individually, particularly since it actively sought their conversion. Indeed the celebrated 13th century Syriac Orthodox bishop Mar Gregorios bar Hebraeus was from a family that had recently converted to Christianity.

 

[The Liturgist]

If we consider how Jesus spoke about God and how all the Apostles spoke about God, this idea is right in line with their practice. HaShem is a circumlocution. Nothing more. When an observant Jew is in the synagogue they will pray using "Adonai" when they are outside the synagogue speaking about God they will refer to "HaShem." It's in practice to avoid using the revealed name of God.

This is precisely what Jesus taught through His practice. We never see Him using the name of God. He says "Father" most often. When He says "Kingdom of Heaven", He isn't talking about heaven, but is rather using another common circumlocution. It is the Kingdom of Y.H.V.H literally, but Kingdom of Heaven is the way to avoid saying it literally. The Son of Man at the Right Hand of Power is another where Power is in place of God's name.

A person can spend hours going through all the mentions of God in the New Testament and find any number of examples of circumlocutions. It's quite literally the prayer we are taught with "Our Father" as the beginning. So is it ok to pray to HaShem? I don't see any evidence in scripture that would suggest otherwise. It's guarding His name which is the command.

I find it interesting how some people are saying they haven't heard of such a thing. Messianic Judaism is becoming a pretty big movement within the Body. It's been resurfacing for nearly 200 years now. There are several ministries that can introduce you to it. First Fruits of Zion has done a teaching called "HaYesod" or "The Foundation" which helps explain the basic concepts of this movement. It's pretty cool to see how many people are finding it. There are other ministries too a quick Google away. It's worth digging into it. If you don't agree with it, I'm fine with that too. We can study together in peace.

That being said it has been revealed to Christians that Jesus Christ is also God, and the name Jesus in its Hebrew form, Joshua, or in its Aramaic forms, means “Jah Saves” (Jah being synonymous with YVHW). Since anyone who has seen the Son has seen the Father, and since the two are consubstantial, we can assert that the name of Jesus Christ is the name of God, specifically the incarnate Word of God.

 

[The Liturgist]

I see absolutely no reason to see issue in using the title/name/phrase "HaShem" when speaking to God. Christians use all sorts of titles for God, "The Name" is simply another in the line of "Lord", "Adonai" or even The Father. None of those are his proper name, some are titles, but HaShem is a sort of title as well, I have never heard it used for anyone/thing other than God.


Personally I have no issue praying or even worshiping with Jews. I know others on the forums see it differently, but I 100% believe they are praying to and working with the same God as we are. They are incorrect in missing the Messiah, but that is another matter. Many Traditional style prayers are derived from or even the same as prayers Jewish people make or say. Taking that a step further, I would have no issue praying with anyone of ANY faith, so long as the prayers are directed to MY God and not theirs (again, Jews being the exception to that since I believe we pray to the same God).


Yes, absolutely. He was compassionate to both Samaritans and Romans, both groups that were "outside" of Judaism. I see no reason to think he would leave his own people out now.

Indeed, the nature of Christ includes perfect compassion.