THE BLOOD OF JESUS: Pagan or Jewish? with Rabbi Yisroel Blumenthal
Can one human being die to atone for the sins of another?
Does Judaism really teach that the death of a righteous person can atone for someone else's sins?
If it does, how is that different from what Christianity teaches about Jesus?
Evangelical Christian missionaries sometimes point to traditional Jewish teachings concerning “the death of the righteous” and argue that they parallel the Christian doctrine of vicarious atonement through the death of Jesus.
But is this really what Judaism teaches?
Rabbi Blumenthal examines the Jewish concept of the death of the righteous and the Christian teaching that Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
He explores the important theological question of whether these teachings are truly equivalent—and what ultimately separates the Jewish and Christian understandings of atonement.
In this lecture, you’ll explore: • What Judaism teaches about the death of the righteous • Why Christian missionaries connect this teaching with Jesus' atonement • The Jewish understanding of individual responsibility for sin • The Christian concept of Jesus' atoning sacrifice • The fundamental theological difference between Jewish and Christian atonement
Watch the full lecture to understand why the apparent similarity between these teachings requires much closer examination. Please like, subscribe, and share this video with others seeking a deeper understanding of Judaism and Jewish-Christian theological differences.
Rabbi Yisroel C. Blumenthal is an Educator and the Director of Judaism Resources (hosted at https://judaismresources.net/ and associated with the project 1000 Verses) which is an educational non-profit website designed to explain traditional Jewish beliefs and respond to Christian missionary arguments from a traditional Jewish perspective.
If you enjoy this video with Rabbi Blumenthal, please Like, Subscribe, and Share to help others discover authentic Jewish wisdom, Torah, Jewish spirituality, Jewish philosophy, faith and thorough responses to Christian Missionaries that target Jews for conversion.
About Jews for Judaism: Jews for Judaism is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity through Torah education, Jewish philosophy, spirituality, and respectful counter-missionary education. Our programs help Jews understand their Jewish heritage and respond thoughtfully to religious claims that challenge authentic Judaism.
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About JEWS FOR JUDAISM:
Jews for Judaism is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity through Torah education, Jewish philosophy, spirituality, and respectful counter-missionary education. Our programs help Jews understand their Jewish heritage and respond thoughtfully to religious claims that challenge authentic Judaism.
Since 1989, Jews for Judaism has been a trailblazer in global Jewish outreach. Jews for Judaism wins back to Judaism those Jews who have been influenced by these Seven Threats to Jewish Survival: • Christian Missionaries convert 1,000’s of Jews worldwide annually • Destructive Cults induce Jews to abandon family, friends & careers • Eastern Religions are now the spiritual choices for many Jews • Jewish apathy and ignorance cause Jews to abandon assimilate • Intermarriage is exploding worldwide at 75% rate in many locales • Anti-Israel lies brainwash millions & destroy Jewish support for Israel • Antisemitism and Jew-Hatred alienates Jews from Judaism
JEWS FOR JUDAISM strengthens and preserves Jewish lives through its worldwide Internet outreach, social media, free educational programs and counselling services that connect Jewish people to the spiritual depth, beauty and wisdom of Judaism.
0:00 Theological challenge 1:03 Individual responsibility 1:56 The role of righteous death 4:08 Mystical perspectives 5:13 Judaism vs. Christianity 6:45 About the organization
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Video Summary
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This video explores the Jewish concept of the death of the righteous atoning for the sins of a generation, contrasting it with the Christian doctrine of vicarious atonement. It argues that while missionaries claim these ideas are parallel, the Jewish perspective focuses on inspiration, community, and personal growth rather than a substitute sacrifice that removes the need for individual repentance.
Jewish tradition teaches us that the death and the suffering of righteous people atone for the sins of this generation.
This teaching appears in the Talmud, it appears in various rabbinical writings.
Missionaries point to this teaching and they say, look, this concept is parallel to the Christian teaching,
the Christian theology of the sacrificial death of Jesus, the vicarious atonement of Jesus.
They use this to challenge the Jewish claim that Jews use against Christianity.
Everyone is responsible for their own sins.
One person doesn't die for another person's sins, and this is an argument that Judaism and Jews have used against Christianity.
But here the missionary points to a Jewish teaching found in the writings of the Jewish teachers, the rabbis,
which seem to contradict that principle, and it allows one person to suffer for the sins of another.
So how do we understand this? How do we understand the concept of the death of the righteous atoning?
So before we answer the question, just let me point out that this idea that one person doesn't die for the sins of another,
one person doesn't suffer for the sins of another, is not something that's simply rooted in the traditions of Judaism.
It's in the Bible itself. In Ezekiel 18, verse 20, it says the son doesn't die for the sin of the father,
the father doesn't die for the sin of the son. In Psalm 49, verse 8, it says a brother cannot redeem anyone,
one person can't redeem another person, a person can't give the ransom for another person.
In other words, the Bible itself teaches this concept that every person is responsible to God for their own sins, for their own transgressions.
So it's not something that's rooted in Jewish tradition. So then it just makes the question stronger.
What is this business, what is this teaching about the death of the righteous or the suffering of the righteous atoning for sin?
So on one level, we understand it as follows. Judaism is a religion of a community.
We don't live on islands. We're part of a community. We're part of a group. We're part of a society.
And it's encouraged. We see ourselves as part of a nation before God. We interact with each other.
When a righteous person passes on to the next world, at that point, people appreciate the righteousness of the person.
It doesn't have to be someone who's unbelievably righteous. The fact is, even someone who's a little bit righteous,
but when he leaves, when he leaves this world and we know he's not going to be with us anymore,
at that point, once we realize we'll never have this anymore, we appreciate the goodness that was present in that person's life.
And we're encouraged to grow from that. We're encouraged to say, you know, that was a good quality.
This person was a kind person, and now he's not here anymore. There's a void. There's a void in the realm of kindness.
We're lacking that kindness, that this person was an honest person, a just person, a moral person, an ethical person, a holy person.
When he leaves this world, that puts into our hearts, into our minds, the goodness of whichever quality this person possessed.
And it encourages us to come closer to God on that path of kindness, justice, morality, holiness.
So in that sense, the death of the righteous encourages people to come closer to God.
The same thing applies to just simply coming face-to-face with death.
When a person comes face-to-face with death, he starts asking himself questions.
So, hey, life is but a dream. Everyone's going to die at one point in time.
What is it worth investing in? Is it worth investing in running after material pleasures, wealth, fame?
It's not going to go to the grave with me.
The only things I'm going to impact, I'm going to leave behind in the world, the things I'm going to be happy to leave behind in the world,
is the goodness, the blessing that I brought to the world, the goodness, the kindness, the justice.
So the death of the righteous inspires us to become closer to God.
So it's not that he's dying for my sin, but his death or his suffering inspires me to become a godlier person, a better person, a person that's closer to God.
There is a teaching in other mystical Jewish works which explain it in a different way.
Not contradicting, but adding on to the first thought, which is that all of us are one soul.
All humanity is one soul. All of the Jewish people, being one family, are one soul.
So when one person elevates himself and raises himself to a higher level, it somehow affects, on a spiritual level, the other people as well.
So again, take it or leave it, but this is what the Jewish traditions teach us.
In other words, they're not teaching us vicarious atonement.
They're teaching us how one person's righteousness and suffering adds on to his righteousness.
Death is a pinnacle of righteousness when a person accepts his death as God's will.
It elevates the people around him.
So it's not vicarious. It's not he's dying and I'm benefiting.
It's his death impacts me. It makes me a better person in some mysterious, mystical, spiritual way.
So it's not detached from me. It's part of the person who is receiving that atonement.
As opposed to in Christianity, the teaching is that the death of Jesus atones.
You don't have to become a godlier person. You don't have to become a greater person.
Let me just illustrate this.
Imagine if you have a person who reads about the death of Jesus, and he's not a Christian at all.
He believes or imagines that Jesus was a good person.
Debatable? We're not going to get into that debate right now.
But let's assume for argument's sake that that's what this person, for purpose of illustration, that's what this person thinks.
And he thinks he was a godly person.
And he's inspired to become a more godly person on the basis of reading the story of the death of Jesus.
Did he receive the atonement of the death of Jesus?
Any Christian will tell you no.
As long as he didn't put his faith in Jesus, he didn't receive the atonement of Jesus.
But if the person did put his faith in Jesus, and now he worships, he gave his heart to Jesus, whether he became a godlier person or not,
perhaps Christians believe that that will be a result of it.
But that's not the atonement.
The atonement is accepting Jesus.
So in short, in one line, the death of the righteous atoning in Judaism is all about bringing the person closer to God.
The person who's receiving the atonement becomes a person who is closer to God, and that is the process of atonement.
That's a process of cleansing and repentance.
As opposed to in Christianity, the death of Jesus is not about bringing people closer to God.
It's about bringing people closer to Jesus.
