Judaism

As the first great religion in God’s providence, Judaism holds a unique place among the world’s religions. In ancient times, in an age darkened by idolatry, God called the Israelites and made with them an eternal covenant.

Many Jews today are zealous to keep the laws of the covenant out of an intense faith and awe at God’s favor and their special destiny as the chosen people. Yet this uniqueness has always been balanced by a conviction that Judaism has a universal mission.

The prophets declared that the Jews were not chosen for their own sake, but to bear the light of God’s truth to all nations. Amidst this tension between universalism and ethnocentrism that runs throughout Jewish history, Father Moon consistently calls on Judaism to take a global perspective.

The Jews have also suffered more than any other people. For two thousand years, they wandered without a nation, oppressed and persecuted, culminating in the Holocaust of six million.

How could they continue to cling to God amid their suffering?

What meaning could it have in the context of God’s saving history?

Father Moon addresses this question in several ways: it is God’s course of training to make them strong; it is to unify the Jewish people and draw them closer to God; it is to make them fit to lead the world to God.

Christians have always had difficulty coming to terms with Judaism, on account of its rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Nevertheless, there is no excuse for Christian anti-Semitism, particularly since Jesus and the disciples were themselves Jews.

Still, the genuine anguish of Saint Paul, who never ceased to care for his Jewish brethren even though in his view they lost their way by not receiving Christ, is echoed in Father Moon’s teaching.

However, unlike Paul, Father Moon does not emphasize the conversion of the Jews. He teaches that Jews can fulfill God’s contemporary Will through interfaith solidarity, whereby Judaism, Christianity and Islam each retain their identity even as they forgive each other, love each other, and unite for world peace.

Father Moon is supportive of the modern State of Israel as a particular homeland for the Jewish people, but not at other people.

He teaches that Israel’s survival and prosperity is possible only in the context of genuine peace and reconciliation with its Arab neighbors—thereby resolving a conflict with deep historical roots extending back to Israel’s biblical origin.

Consistent with his restorationist approach, he calls for Jews and Arabs to extend themselves to each other in love, going beyond self-interest.

The Chosen People

All Israel shall have a part in the world to come, as it is said, “And their people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” (Isa. 60:21) Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10.1

If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all people; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19.5-6

O Children of Israel! Remember My favor with which I favored you, and fulfill your covenant, and I shall fulfill My covenant; and fear Me. Qur’an 2.40

The Holy One desired to make Israel worthy, so He gave them many laws and commandments. Mishnah, Makkot 3.16

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because the Lord loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments… And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. Deuteronomy 7.6-9, 8.2-6

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name, He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant only to reestablish the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49.1-3, 6

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Among all religions in human history, Judaism alone was established by a people who claimed that they brought victory for God. It originated from Jacob’s victory in the fight against the angel. Jacob did not win against a human being but an angel, a being from the invisible spirit world.

The people of Israel stand on this tradition of spiritual victory over the fallen angelic realm… Hence, they could become the chosen people of God. Thoroughly equipped with the belief that they are the chosen people, the Jews have never forgotten their history and tradition despite the suffering of wandering throughout the world for 2,000 years.

Wherever they went, no matter what circumstances they faced, they maintained their belief that they were chosen by God. Such a history never existed among any other people on earth.27 (149:85, November 17, 1986)

God appointed the Israelites to a central role and wanted all people to honor them. He wanted all people on earth to follow Israel’s example; then they would praise Israel just as God would. However, the Israelites could not set up such an exemplary historical tradition. Israel began with Jacob, who was God’s champion of love.

However, subsequent generations of Israelites could not maintain their tradition.

The Israelites should have been superior to any other people in the world in loving God and fulfilling God’s Will and providence.

However, while they raised their awareness of being the chosen people, they forgot their mission and their calling for the Will of God. What is the purpose of the chosen people?

The chosen people should love the world on God’s behalf and, as God’s representatives, set the example for all in loving the world. However, the people of Israel did not fulfill their exalted calling. Though they were supposed to give God’s love to all the world, they wanted to receive love instead. That was the problem. (169:265-66, November 1, 1987)

What is the path that God has decreed for Israel and Judaism? It is a path with universal significance. It is a universal mission. God chose one specific people, Israel, to fulfill a mission not only for themselves but for humankind. (168:304, October 1, 1987) Besides Judaism, there are numerous religions in the world, such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. The religions differ, but they must not fight one another; instead, they must travel the road to one unified world.

Likewise, the people of the world must not fight one another, but become one. There must be one teaching that can lead all the religions not to fight, but to unite.

The Jewish people in particular, who have the responsibility to lead the world’s peoples and unite them into one, should have such a teaching. Because the realization of God’s ideal of creation is universal, Judaism and the Jewish people should uphold a teaching that corresponds to God’s ideal of creation. (168:304, October 1, 1987)

The Suffering of the Jews

Thou hast made us like sheep for the slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations. Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle, Demanding no high price for them.

Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those about us. Thou hast made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples… All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten thee, or been false to thy covenant.

Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from thy way, that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness.

If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread forth our hands to a strange god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Psalm 44.11-22

The Israelites are compared to an olive tree, because as the olive yields its oil only by hard pressure, so the Israelites do not return to righteousness except through suffering. Talmud, Menahot 53b

“For I am love-sick.” [Song of Solomon 2.5] Said the community of Israel before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, all the maladies which Thou bringest upon me are to make me more beloved of Thee.” Another explanation: The community of Israel said before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, the reason for all the sufferings which the nations inflict upon me is because I love Thee.” Canticles Rabbah 2.5

All we [the nations] like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [Israel] the iniquity of us all.28 Isaiah 53.6

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Despite suffering many difficulties throughout their history, the Jewish people have survived to this day as a homogeneous people. No other people have survived for so long. For two thousand years, they wandered without a nation of their own.

They have been trampled under the feet of many countries, despised and slaughtered. Yet despite all manner of difficulties, the Jews have survived with gusto as a homogeneous people, maintaining their unique traditions and teachings.

How did the Jewish people handle their tribulations?

They held to the thought that the more they were oppressed, the more they needed knowledge and money. So they made their children study, even if it meant living like beggars. They strived to earn as much money as possible.

They believed that money and knowledge were the keys to power and worked together for their common purpose. This is how they could dissolve their grievances over all the miseries they suffered. Did God make the Jews suffer to punish them, or was God training them to be a people who can endure difficulties?

If God made the Jews suffer out of His love, then surely their long-suffering will lead to blessings and worldwide influence. This is God’s will for the one chosen to guide others up the mountain: to fulfill his responsibility as a guide, he should first have the authority of one who has conquered the mountain. In this respect, God gave the chosen people special dignity only because they are to fulfill the mission of humanity’s guides.

Their special privilege lasts only as long as their mission. Once their mission is accomplished, God will give the whole world the same privilege and honor. God’s plan for the salvation of the world goes like this. What is the characteristic of the chosen people? They must have the independent ability to embrace all of humankind. Otherwise, they cannot digest the whole world. (81:190-91, December 28, 1975)

We should understand that God’s will is to unite all religions. God has intended to make the world one, even if it required sacrificing the Jewish people. Six million lives are not the issue; the issue is to bring unity among all religions and to make all humankind as one. Judaism has been persecuted more than any other religion.

Because God allowed such suffering to come to the Jews, God expected them to be the strongest and most united religious people. What religion shall play the central role in uniting all religions? God chose the Jews and trained them for that role. This is my explanation of the suffering of the Jews from the perspective of God’s providence. (105:126-27, October 4, 1979)

The Jewish-Christian Relationship

I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the son- ship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ… I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!… As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. Romans 9.1-5; 11.1, 28-32 (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Many Jews are alive on the earth today. Since a long time ago, some of their ancestors betrayed the Will of God, has God therefore abandoned them? Surely not. While they may have traveled down a side path, they kept an unchanging heart toward God as God’s chosen people…

As long as the Jews hold fast to their role as God’s chosen people despite any adversity, they will not disappear from the earth. Hence, there is an element of rightness that today they retain substantial economic power in the world and can exercise control in many fields. (4:243-44, May 18, 1958)

Judaism, centered upon the Old Testament, was the first work of God and is in an elder brother. Christianity, centered upon the New Testament, is in the position of the second brother. The Unification Church, through which God has given a new revelation, the Completed Testament, is in the position of the youngest brother.

These three religions are indeed three brothers in the providence of God. Then Israel, the United States, and Korea, the nations where these three religions are based, must also be brothers.

Because these three nations have a common destiny representing God’s side, the Communist bloc as Satan’s representative, is trying to isolate and destroy them at the U.N.

Therefore, these three brother nations must join hands in a unified effort to restore the United Nations to its original purpose and function. They must contribute internally to the unification of world religions and externally to the unification of the world itself. (88:211, September 18, 1976)

The Land of Israel

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My delight is in her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. Isaiah 62.1-4

The Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; and the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. Deuteronomy 30.3-5

And We said unto the Children of Israel after him [Moses]: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter comes to pass We shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations.30 Qur’an 17.104 (Islam)

All civilizations of the world will be renewed by the renaissance of our spirit. All quarrels will be resolved, and our revival will cause all life to be luminous with the joy of fresh birth.

All religions will don new and precious raiment, casting off whatever is soiled, abominable and unclean; they will unite in imbibing the dew of the holy lights, that were made ready for all mankind at the beginning of time in the well of Israel. The active power of Abraham’s blessing to all the peoples of the world will become manifest and it will serve as the basis of our renewed creativity in the land of Israel. Abraham Isaac Kook, The Zionist Idea

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
What has been the hope of the Jewish people?

They hoped to experience the fulfillment of God’s promise to unify the people and re-establish their nation. They longed for that day and kept it in their minds until the moment of death. They left behind the sorrow of not accomplishing it, and it remained their dying wish.

When we see this, we recognize that the more people have passed through a sorrowful course of history, the better they can receive the victorious foundation of world history.

Enduring centuries of misfortune without having a nation, they developed the vision for their nation and a love for their people.

Because they digested the sorrow, they could realize their vision of a new nation—a new society where they could break down the walls of their confined environment and pursue life in a new, liberated environment. (30:247-48, March 29, 1970)

The Jews thought that they would unify the world centered on their people once they met the Messiah. However, after the death of Jesus, they wandered for 2,000 years. They were trampled under the hoofs of the Gentiles’ horses, killed by guns and swords, and suffered all manner of humiliations.

Finally, with the Second Advent of Christ and the liberation of Korea in 1948, Israel could emerge as an independent state.31 (208:286-87, November 20, 1990)

The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to build God’s nation. Therefore, we who assume Jesus’ role as ‘tribal messiahs’ should restore the nation of Israel and atone for its past failures…

Israel was divided by conflict on the national level between the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel and the two tribes of Judah; this had its roots in the failure of Leah and Rachel to unite in the days of Jacob. Even in Moses’ day, the tribes fought each other.

Jesus passed away in the midst of such division, symbolized by the two thieves on the right and on the left of Jesus at the crucifixion. Now that conflict expanded to the world level, at which time the Christ at the Second Advent comes to resolve the situation and unify the world…

Currently, are Judaism and Christianity enemies? In the Middle East, Israel and the Islamic nations are enemies. We should bring peace to the region. (250:331, October 15, 1993)