"Jesus Was a Jew"

Is the historical rivalry between Jews and Christians forgotten in modern Israel? Do Jewish-Israeli young people partake in the historic memory of the polemics between the two religions? This book scrutinizes the presentations of Christians and Christianity in Israeli school curricula, textbooks, and teaching in the state education system, in an attempt to elucidate the role of relations to Christianity in the construction of modern Jewish-Israeli identity, and it reveals that despite the changes in Jewish-Christian relations, they are still a significant factor in the construction of modern Jewish-Israeli identity.

This is a valuable study of the representation of Christians and Christianity within the Israeli school system, over the past seven decades. This book shows how study and teaching of the other is actually a means for constructing one’s own identity. This sobering research exposes that despite all advances in Jewish-Christian relations, despite profound changes in the teaching of many Churches—especially the Catholic Church, which occupies a primary position in Israeli curricula—and despite the efforts of theologians, historians, and educators, little has changed in how Christianity has been taught. Orit Ramon, Inés Gabel, and Varda Wasserman demonstrate how an ‘exile’ mentality continues to inform Jewish presentations of Christianity enforcing Jewish identity—religious, national and political. This book demonstrates what price we pay for nationalism and how encountering the other has been substituted by indebtedness to a national narrative and the needs for Israeli identity construction. It is only when the full picture emerges from this analysis that one can begin to reconsider what a true ‘independent’ and self-assured presentation of Christianity might look like in an age of dialogue. If diagnosis is the first step towards healing, this book makes an important contribution not just to the study of contemporary educational policies in Israel but to the advancement of Jewish-Christian relations., “Jesus Was a Jew” raises a valuable contribution to our understanding of Israeli perspectives of Christianity. The authors’ thorough analysis shows how sensitive the issue of Christianity is for the Israeli public even today—much more sensitive than one might have assumed.

Orit Ramon, the Department of History, Philosophy, and Judaic Studies, the Open University of Israel. Inés Gabel, the Department of Sociology, Political Sciences, and Communication, the Open University of Israel. Varda Wasserman, an associate professor, the Management Department, the Open University of Israel.