Earlier this week I responded to accusations from a Messianic Rabbi against Karaites in general and me in particular. Since I released my book The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus nearly a year ago I have been the target of many accusations coming from all sides. I have been accused of being a Christian missionary by Rabbanites and of being an anti-Missionary by Messianic Rabbis. I have been accused of writing my book just to promote Karaite Judaism by Christians and accused of tarnishing the name of Karaism by some Karaites. However, these negative reactions are exceptions to the rule. Overall, the responses to my book have been very positive. I learned a long time ago that you just cannot please everyone all of the time. Nor should you! There will always be naysayers. In previous posts I have focused on negative criticism. In this post I want to balance out the picture by giving voice to the positive reactions to my book.

Before I published the book I was most concerned about the reaction it would receive from my fellow Karaites. Would they tar and feather me and drive me out of the Karaite community for writing about Yeshua? Part of my fear was that Karaites have historically been active in Jewish apologetics as part of the overall Jewish-Christian debate. So how would a book portraying the historical Yeshua in a positive light be received by my fellow Karaites? Before I went to press I sent the book to a well-known Karaite teacher who some might describe as an "anti-Missionary". I thought if anyone would denounce me for the book it would be this person. When I told him I had written a book about the "Hebrew Yeshua" I could detect the anger and disappointment in his voice. But I asked that he keep an open mind and read the book before he passed judgment. A few days later he contacted me with a completely different tone and asked me to immediately send him the Hebrew Matthew so he could learn more about the "Karaite aspects" of Yeshua's message!

My second greatest concern before I released the book was how my Rabbanite brothers would react. Although I am very openly critical of Rabbanism, I still consider Rabbanites to be my fellow Jews and really do not wish to offend them. Overall the reaction from Rabbinical Jews was very positive. The most common reaction from Rabbanites was that they had gained a better understanding of Yeshua. Most Rabbanites who read the book told me that they had understood Yeshua to be a "self-hating Jew" who "despised the Torah". After reading the book they realized that whether or not the Hebrew Matthew had any validity, it was clear even from the Greek Matthew that Yeshua was actually a good Jew who loved the Torah.

Before I released the book I really wasn't worried about how Christians and Messianics would respond. I genuinely thought that since they profess to believe in Yeshua they would be extremely happy to hear what Yeshua really taught, or in the worst case scenario would respectfully disagree with me. In retrospect I was very naive. In my book I uncover how Yeshua was challenging the power of the Pharisees of his day and some modern "Messianic Rabbis" have seen this as a challenge to their own power. I under-estimated the degree to which those in power make remaining in power an end unto itself, even more important than the search for truth. Still, this was only the reaction of a vocal minority. Most Christians and Messianics, and even Messianic Rabbis, responded very positively to my book. Some of the reactions were quite surprising to me.

On my speaking tours I had many people walk up to me and proclaim that my book had "strengthened their faith in Yeshua". Quite frankly, this made me feel awkward. My intention was neither to strengthen nor weaken anyone's faith in anything, only to examine what Yeshua really said based on the historical sources and the ancient texts.

One reaction I will never forget was from a young Catholic man wearing the largest wooden crucifix I have ever seen. This Catholic man walked up to me in tears, hugged me, and told me that he now understood that "Jesus Christ was really a Jew".

One common reaction was from Gentiles who told me they had "always hated Jews because of the Talmud" but now they realized that, "Jews are just as much victims of Pharisaism as anyone." When someone tells me something like this, I really don't know what to say. I'm glad you don't hate Jews anymore, but I am not so quick to forgive a lifetime of anti-Semitism.

The single most surprising reaction was from a Jordanian-Arab Christian minister who got up on the microphone after one of my presentations and proclaimed, "We all need to be reminded of the Jewish roots of our faith."

Below are excerpts from e-mails I have received which are typical of the most common reactions from Messianics and Christians. I have removed last names to protect people's privacy.