Oriental Orthodox communities always seem to have Jewish roots.
Our worship,traditions,even church architecture and structure have endless similarities with jewish communities.
This maybe because the jews were the first christians and orthodox christianity originated from them.Not to mention the fact that Jesus,Mother Mary,the 12 disciples,etc were all jews.
The jewish roots of the Ethiopian and Indian Orthodox are well known.Orthodox christian communities were always found adjacent to an ancient jewish christian community.
In India,the first christians converted by St.Thomas in AD 52 were from the trading Jewish community settled in Kerala.
Even today in India there is a small Jewish christian community that strictly preserves its bloodlines and traditions.Known as the "knanaya orthodox",they were christians of jewish origin who migrated to ancient india from persia around 4th century.
Orthodox christian worship is very similar to the worship at the Old Temple of Jerusalem,which was destroyed by the romans in the first century.The altar is the most visible similarity.
Eastern christian mysticism has its roots in Jewish christianity(by jewish christian i mean people of the jewish race converted to christianity) and ancient judaism.
Let me quote from wikipedia about the "kerala nasrani"(the st.thomas christians of kerala,oriental orthodox christians) and their jewish connections:
"The southern coast of the Indian subcontinent (hypothesized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus to be the place mentioned as Ophir in the Old Testament) inevitably became a gateway from the Mediterranean world to the Far East. The people there traded in teak, ivory, spices and peacocks, and the area was endowed with a magnificent coastline with numerous ports from Mangalapuram to Kodungallur, originally known as Cranganore and also called Muziris.
The trade routes brought with them not just riches but also stateless nations and nascent worldviews. Cranganore became one of the earliest settlements of the Jewish diaspora from the later Old Testament period. They continued trade with the Mediterranean world, thus establishing a strong link between the southern coast of the Indian peninsula and the Judeo-Roman world. Laying the links or foundations for what would later be the early 'Judeo-Nazaraean' diaspora. The early Aramaic-speaking Syriac Christians who came to Kerala (which already had a Jewish settlement in Kodungulloor) were in one sense Jewish. This is because the identity of being Jewish is not purely religious, but hereditary; that is, anybody who is of Hebrew descent is Jewish by origin, and anybody who is born of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of whether the person follows Judaism or not.
The Nasrani(a follower of Jesus of 'Nazreth') people are an ethnic community from Kerala, South India, who follow the early Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition. Their culture South Indian, their faith St. Thomas Christian, and their language Malayalam. Much of their Jewish tradition has been forgotten, especially after the Portuguese invasion of Kerala in the early 1500s.
They are "christian in religion,hindu in culture and hebrew-syriac in worship'.
Until the advent of the Portuguese in the 1500s, the proto-Jewish-Nasrani ethos in Kerala thrived with Jewish customs and the Syrian-Antiochian tradition intertwined with South Indian Hindu customs. They preserved the original rituals of the early Jewish Christians, such as covering their heads while in worship. Their ritual services (liturgy) was and still is called the Qurbana (also spelled as Kurbana) which is derived from the Hebrew word Korban (קרבן
meaning Sacrifice. Their ritual service used to be held on Saturdays in the tradition of the Jewish Sabbath. The Nasrani Qurbana used to be sung in the Suryani (Syrian) and Aramaic languages. They also believed that it was the Romans who killed Jesus because, historically, Jesus was crucified; the official form of execution of the Jews was typically stoning to death, while the official form of execution of the Romans was crucifixion.
Persecution by Portuguese
The Judeo-Nasrani tradition of the Syro-malabar Nasranis was wiped out when the Portuguese invaded Kerala, and denounced the Nasrani account of Christian faith as false. They imposed their rituals and liturgy and obliterated the Jewish legacy from the Nasrani tradition. The Portuguese described the Nasranis as Sabbath keeping Judaizers.
Archbishop Menezes of Goa, convened the Synod of Diamper in 1599, in Kerala. There he ordered all the texts of the syrian nasranis to be burnt. The Portuguese burned the Gospel of Thomas and the Acts of Thomas. The purpose stated by Menezes was to erase all legacies of antiquity and Jewishness. They completely obliterated the records of early Nasrani life and Hebrew - Syriac tradition and imposed on the Nasranis that they were local people who were converted and not descendants of early Jewish settlers converted to christianity by the Apostle Thomas. This despite the fact that the Acts of Thomas (a copy of which still survives in a monastry on Mount Sinai), states that the early christian converts by the Apostle Thomas in Kerala were early Jewish people settled in the Malabar coast.
Most of all the Portuguese burned the Nasrani Aramaic Peshitta bible based on the jewish Targum. The Portuguese imposed the teaching that the Jews killed Jesus. The Nasranis, who were,until then, the "living fossils" of the Christian-Jewish tradition, lost their very defining ethos.
The only Nasranis who managed to preserve some elements of their Jewish origin was the Orthodox people(especially the knanaya orthodox community), because of their tradition of being endogamous within their own community and therefore preserving their tradition."
Jewish customs among the nasrani Today
Even today the people of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church(Indian Orthodox Church) and the Syrian orthdox churches(including knanaya orthodox) in kerala still follow and preserve many jewish customs.
The symbol of the Nasrani people is still the Nasrani menorah based on the Jewish menorah.
On Passover night,the nasrani people have "Pesaha appam"(unleavened passover bread) along with Pesah pal (passover coconut milk). This tradition of Pesah appam is observed by the entire Nasrani people until this day.
The nasrani place of worship (called Palli in malayalam) has separate seating arrangement for men and women. The "holy of holies" is divided by a red curtain for most of the time and is opened during the central part of the Nasrani Qurbana.
Orthodox christian communities everywhere are proud of their ancient Apostolic succesion and their ancient christian customs,most of them distinctly of jewish christian origin.
However,i do not have much info about other churches,but i have heard the ethiopian church has many such ancient jewish connection.
Please tell us,if you know more about this.
Our worship,traditions,even church architecture and structure have endless similarities with jewish communities.
This maybe because the jews were the first christians and orthodox christianity originated from them.Not to mention the fact that Jesus,Mother Mary,the 12 disciples,etc were all jews.
The jewish roots of the Ethiopian and Indian Orthodox are well known.Orthodox christian communities were always found adjacent to an ancient jewish christian community.
In India,the first christians converted by St.Thomas in AD 52 were from the trading Jewish community settled in Kerala.
Even today in India there is a small Jewish christian community that strictly preserves its bloodlines and traditions.Known as the "knanaya orthodox",they were christians of jewish origin who migrated to ancient india from persia around 4th century.
Orthodox christian worship is very similar to the worship at the Old Temple of Jerusalem,which was destroyed by the romans in the first century.The altar is the most visible similarity.
Eastern christian mysticism has its roots in Jewish christianity(by jewish christian i mean people of the jewish race converted to christianity) and ancient judaism.
Let me quote from wikipedia about the "kerala nasrani"(the st.thomas christians of kerala,oriental orthodox christians) and their jewish connections:
"The southern coast of the Indian subcontinent (hypothesized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus to be the place mentioned as Ophir in the Old Testament) inevitably became a gateway from the Mediterranean world to the Far East. The people there traded in teak, ivory, spices and peacocks, and the area was endowed with a magnificent coastline with numerous ports from Mangalapuram to Kodungallur, originally known as Cranganore and also called Muziris.
The trade routes brought with them not just riches but also stateless nations and nascent worldviews. Cranganore became one of the earliest settlements of the Jewish diaspora from the later Old Testament period. They continued trade with the Mediterranean world, thus establishing a strong link between the southern coast of the Indian peninsula and the Judeo-Roman world. Laying the links or foundations for what would later be the early 'Judeo-Nazaraean' diaspora. The early Aramaic-speaking Syriac Christians who came to Kerala (which already had a Jewish settlement in Kodungulloor) were in one sense Jewish. This is because the identity of being Jewish is not purely religious, but hereditary; that is, anybody who is of Hebrew descent is Jewish by origin, and anybody who is born of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of whether the person follows Judaism or not.
The Nasrani(a follower of Jesus of 'Nazreth') people are an ethnic community from Kerala, South India, who follow the early Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition. Their culture South Indian, their faith St. Thomas Christian, and their language Malayalam. Much of their Jewish tradition has been forgotten, especially after the Portuguese invasion of Kerala in the early 1500s.
They are "christian in religion,hindu in culture and hebrew-syriac in worship'.
Until the advent of the Portuguese in the 1500s, the proto-Jewish-Nasrani ethos in Kerala thrived with Jewish customs and the Syrian-Antiochian tradition intertwined with South Indian Hindu customs. They preserved the original rituals of the early Jewish Christians, such as covering their heads while in worship. Their ritual services (liturgy) was and still is called the Qurbana (also spelled as Kurbana) which is derived from the Hebrew word Korban (קרבן
meaning Sacrifice. Their ritual service used to be held on Saturdays in the tradition of the Jewish Sabbath. The Nasrani Qurbana used to be sung in the Suryani (Syrian) and Aramaic languages. They also believed that it was the Romans who killed Jesus because, historically, Jesus was crucified; the official form of execution of the Jews was typically stoning to death, while the official form of execution of the Romans was crucifixion.Persecution by Portuguese
The Judeo-Nasrani tradition of the Syro-malabar Nasranis was wiped out when the Portuguese invaded Kerala, and denounced the Nasrani account of Christian faith as false. They imposed their rituals and liturgy and obliterated the Jewish legacy from the Nasrani tradition. The Portuguese described the Nasranis as Sabbath keeping Judaizers.
Archbishop Menezes of Goa, convened the Synod of Diamper in 1599, in Kerala. There he ordered all the texts of the syrian nasranis to be burnt. The Portuguese burned the Gospel of Thomas and the Acts of Thomas. The purpose stated by Menezes was to erase all legacies of antiquity and Jewishness. They completely obliterated the records of early Nasrani life and Hebrew - Syriac tradition and imposed on the Nasranis that they were local people who were converted and not descendants of early Jewish settlers converted to christianity by the Apostle Thomas. This despite the fact that the Acts of Thomas (a copy of which still survives in a monastry on Mount Sinai), states that the early christian converts by the Apostle Thomas in Kerala were early Jewish people settled in the Malabar coast.
Most of all the Portuguese burned the Nasrani Aramaic Peshitta bible based on the jewish Targum. The Portuguese imposed the teaching that the Jews killed Jesus. The Nasranis, who were,until then, the "living fossils" of the Christian-Jewish tradition, lost their very defining ethos.
The only Nasranis who managed to preserve some elements of their Jewish origin was the Orthodox people(especially the knanaya orthodox community), because of their tradition of being endogamous within their own community and therefore preserving their tradition."
Jewish customs among the nasrani Today
Even today the people of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church(Indian Orthodox Church) and the Syrian orthdox churches(including knanaya orthodox) in kerala still follow and preserve many jewish customs.
The symbol of the Nasrani people is still the Nasrani menorah based on the Jewish menorah.
On Passover night,the nasrani people have "Pesaha appam"(unleavened passover bread) along with Pesah pal (passover coconut milk). This tradition of Pesah appam is observed by the entire Nasrani people until this day.
The nasrani place of worship (called Palli in malayalam) has separate seating arrangement for men and women. The "holy of holies" is divided by a red curtain for most of the time and is opened during the central part of the Nasrani Qurbana.
Orthodox christian communities everywhere are proud of their ancient Apostolic succesion and their ancient christian customs,most of them distinctly of jewish christian origin.
However,i do not have much info about other churches,but i have heard the ethiopian church has many such ancient jewish connection.
Please tell us,if you know more about this.
