The Jesus Connection: To Triumph Over Anti-Semitism

By Leonard C. Yaseen

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0824507185
• ISBN13: 9780824507183
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Crossroad Pub Co
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

This is a review from the LA Times, 1985 & Why

Without a lot of explanation, I received a pointedly critical opinion about my review and/or the book and/or my style of writing. So, I did some research and found a professional book review. ___________________Book Review Author: Sonia G. Gemes, LA Times, December 15, 1985, pg 10"Is enlightened coexistence possible between Christians and Jews?" Leonard C. Yaseen asks this question in the opening sentence of a book that is almost equally divided between his argument against anti-Semitism and a section of photographs and capsule biographies of famous Jews. Yaseen thinks that it is, and that the key to this coexistence lies in understanding the Jewishness of Jesus Christ. Hence: The Jesus Connection.The book's main arguments are that Jesus was a Jew, and a devout one; that the Romans, not the Jews, killed Jesus, that the early Christian church departed from Jewish law mainly because circumcision was a painful obstacle to potential adult converts from the Gentile world (Jews, of course, were circumcised as infants), and that generation upon generation of Jews have endured a history of persecution at the hands of Christian groups because they were regarded as "Christ-killers." Most of these things a thinking Christian already knows. But then, Christians do not exactly have a history of thoughtfulness in regard to the Jews.Yaseen points this out quite graphically. He cites not only the Holocaust, the Spanish Inquisition, the pogroms of Eastern Europe, the infamous Dreyfus case of 19th-Century France (which he describes in fascinating details), and the defamatory statements only recently excised from both Catholic and Lutheran texts, but also the social suffering of the ordinary Jew in this country and elsewhere. Yaseen's historical thesis is frequently interrupted by anecdotes of his own experience, such as the "runoff" election his Midwestern high school held for school "mayor," after he, a Jew, had clearly won the office. Yaseen does not mince words: "Yet one all-pervasive attitude persists among individual Christians of every denomination, and that is the denigration of the Jews . . . "The author concludes that ". . . the religion founded in his (Jesus) name ignores his philosophy of love by debasing the Jews-his own people, his earliest followers." This is ironic because "Jews were among Jesus' most ardent supporters. His immediate followers considered themselves the most fortunate of Jews. They could participate in all Temple rites, never questioning their Jewishness; in addition, Jesus, their rabbi, was considered a messiah."Yaseen, founder of a New York consulting firm specializing in industrial economic geography, has clearly written his account of the Jewish Jesus for a broad, general reading audience. It offers nothing new in the higher reaches of biblical scholarship, but its attractive format and easily readable style make some of that scholarship accessible to the ordinary reader, and its sources are well-documented.Aside fr

Please Put this Book Back in Print!!!!!

The Jesus Connection: To Triumph over Anti-Semitism by Leonard C. Yaseen is written for non-Jewish audiences by a Jewish man to give understanding about Jesus, Christianity and how it relates to Judaism and vice versa. It is not a theology book. The introduction is written by the Christian Evangelist Billy Graham who points out that his reputation speaks for itself and that he wholeheartedly endorses Mr. Yaseen's book to help get rid misunderstandings that so many people hold about both Judaism and Christianity. Mr. Yaseen's book will bring many readers intellectual understanding that may surprise them! For instance, he explains how at one time Christianity was an accepted sect of Judaism and that the crossover into its own religion came with Paul. Mr. Yaseen also explains how Jesus of Nazareth could only come out of the Jewish Faith and cites Leviticus to teach many young Christians that the "New Commandment" was new in the beginning with Judaism (read Leviticus). Again, this book is not a theology book and does not stress fundamental differences between Judaism's monotheism and Christianity's idea of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. For individuals truly interested in Agape, this book is a MUST. For everyone else, it is an intellectual goldmine. And, the content will be until the end of the world TIMELY -- especially every time a movie that has anything to do with religion comes out. I hope that many more people read this book and write a review. Especially if I mixed up Leviticus with a different "old testament" book. Hopefully, you've all been teased into doing some reading now.