When I heard that the pope had died, I had an amazing idea, a virtual epiphany. The Jews need to pick the next pope. After all, the Vatican was designed to replace the Jewish temple, and the Pope replaced the Kohen Gadol (High priest). Let’s be honest, there have been popes leading the Catholic world since the 8th century, and they haven’t done a very good job. Whether or not you are Catholic, you must admit that choosing the head of 1.4 billion people is essential. And who could be more suited for this than the Jewish people? At the very least, Catholics should appreciate our input and take it seriously. Rabbis should take part in the conclave. And if we choose to pattern the Vatican after the Jewish faith, well, they should appreciate that. As a Jew, I believe the future of the Catholic Church should be patterned after Jewish Theology and eschatology. The people of Moses surely can be trusted to choose the leader of the Catholic people. We believe in Moses, so our belief makes us more suited to choosing a leader than a group of cardinals. And as outsiders, our opinion of Catholicism is certainly more valid than their faith, no matter how long it has lasted. Having Jews choose the pope would be a great form of reconciliation, bringing the Church closer to Judaism and Islam. The Catholic Church has been at odds with the world of Islam since both religions began. Choosing a pope might cause more anger amongst the Muslims. So maybe they shouldn’t choose a pope at all.
No, I am not serious.
I do believe in freedom of religion, and one aspect of freedom of religion is the right not to impose my beliefs on other people. My Jewish faith is not to be used as a template for different faiths. Even though Catholicism grew out of Judaism, even though Catholics use the Hebrew bible, even if mistranslated, they are free to believe as they want, as they will. Catholics and Christians can believe as they will, but they cannot impose their beliefs upon the Jews. They certainly cannot tell the Jews that their understanding of our Bible supersedes our 3,000-year tradition of understanding God’s word at Sinai.
And I would not impose my Jewish beliefs to force the Catholics to choose a Pope.
So why would I make such an absurd proposal, Jews choosing a pope? It is blatantly ridiculous for Jews to pick a Catholic pope or to have any input on their faith and their future. It is difficult for Christians or Catholics to understand this, but Torah observant Jews have no interest in what the rest of the world does or believes. We are laser-focused on doing God’s will as we know it. The Talmud says nothing about Christianity, Christians, or Islam. The most insulting antisemitic trope—and the one that has become the dominant ‘anti-Zionist’ slogan today—is that Judaism is colonialist, which is shorthand for the theme of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’: Jews are conspiring to rule the world.
The opposite is true. For 2,000 years, Jews have wanted to return to our homeland, mostly to serve God in completeness, but also because we wanted to be left alone. And the two are actually the same. The nations have ruled over the Jews throughout the exile, and not once have they ever wanted to help us serve God, except for when the nations suddenly wanted to help the Jews return.
I understand that they have grown used to bossing Jews around. And for the most part, they succeeded. But for 2,000 years, Jews drew an indelible red line at any demands that came between us and serving God. Christian coercion didn’t work in the exile, and it certainly won’t work in our homeland.
Our nation was a kingdom for thousands of years before Christianity or Islam began. But for some reason, Catholics, Christians, Muslims, and even secular anti-Bible folks feel they have the right to weigh in on whether or not the Jewish people can build the Third Temple. Five red heifers were brought to Israel a few years ago as an essential element for Reviving The Temple service. It caused an uproar amongst Christians. Many were enthusiastic and supportive, but many others rejected the idea, blaming the Jews for wanting to bring the Temple of the Antichrist. There is no Temple of the Antichrist in Jewish thought. Not even a hint of one. No Jew would set out to create one. Of course, I suspect that those Christians would consider anything the Jews did as an independent nation to be the antichrist.
This is our Temple, and, as prophesied, it will serve as a House of Prayer for all nations. It is explicitly described throughout the Hebrew Bible, which few Christians learn in its original language, and even fewer learn with a Jewish explanation.
To be perfectly candid, I do not care what Christians think of the Third Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Muslims made their response to the red heifers and the Third Temple explicit on October 7th.
Why do Christians feel that they have any say in how Jews serve god? They are invited to participate in the Third Temple as their ancestors did in the first and second temples. But not as masters of the house. The Bible explicitly states that the Jews will be a nation of priests. The Third Temple is our purview, our responsibility, and the final say concerning all Temple matters will be in the hands of Jewish scholars who learn the Jewish sources. The Temple and the Temple service are described in explicit detail in the Talmud. I believe that one of the reasons the Vatican demonized the Talmud and rabbinic Judaism was to prevent the revival of the temple service and the construction of the Third Temple. If you reject the Talmud and rabbinic Judaism, you should certainly not have a say about the Temple.
I love Christians who support Israel, but the next stage in rejecting replacement theology is to embrace the Jewish Nation as an independent nation, in Covenant with god and subservient to no other. We do not need permission. We are self-empowered because of our covenant with God.
This is not true of Jews outside of Israel. The land of Israel is the Covenant. Jews in Israel are an entirely different animal, the likes of which the world has not seen for 2,000 years. To serve God in the manner that was intended in the Covenant, Jews must be independent of any other rule, any other leader, any other God or religion. We must ignore any input from any other nation concerning Jerusalem; certainly the Muslims who want to see us dead, but also the Christians who are not yet seeing this new stage in geula (redemption).
The tragedy is that the Jewish people themselves are reluctant to take this step.
Our Exodus from exile would be our final entrance into the independence that God gave us when we left Egypt. We learn in halacha that a slave is on a lower spiritual level than a free man. A Jewish slave who chooses his flesh and blood master over freedom to serve God is maimed and denigrated. He has chosen subservience to somebody other than the God of Israel. Jews as a nation are being challenged to take this step. We must choose to ignore what anybody says about what our future must be. Our future has always been clear. We must take our place as a nation of priests serving God In The House of Prayer for all nations on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Just as many Jews refused to leave Egypt and even wanted to return, so many Jews today are ignoring the Temple Mount and the moves being made to return the temple service. It is a difficult decision to go out to Freedom. I request that my Christian friends please make the decision easier. The Bible prophesied what would be. We have no choice, but you do. We will serve God at his chosen place. You can choose to help or hinder that inevitability.
As an example of how a Gentile should act, I point to Psalm 126: “Then it will be said among the Nations how wonderful it is what God did for you.” I invite you to encourage the Jews to grab their fringes and drag them kicking and screaming to the Temple Mount, where they can serve as a nation of priests by bringing your offerings to the god of Israel. I even invite you to embarrass the Jews. Confront Jews in the exile and ask them why they are still in galut (exile)? Have they not heard of the red heifers? Don’t they know they will be punished with karet (being cut off from God) for not bringing the Passover offering to Jerusalem?
Yes, we are incredibly blessed to live in prophetic times when the Jewish people have returned to the promised land. But this requires us to move forward. We must do God’s will by building a temple and reviving the Temple service. Christians can love Israel, but they will not be the priests, nor will they go up to the Temple Mount. I have encountered many Christians who serve God and Jesus in total humility. Service is a holy concept to Christians. Jesus went up to the temple, but not to serve as a priest. I invite Christians to take their role in the Third Temple and request that they leave us to do our part.
