Kehilat Ariel, San Diego, CA

Shabbat Emor (Vayikra/Leviticus 21:1-24:23) includes a rather comprehensive review of various ordinances for the priests.  It is actually a timely connection between the ancient tradition and current events in Hollywood with the upcoming release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code."

 

It has been quite a journey for Dan Brown's best-selling novel.  There has been controversy, a plagiarism lawsuit (settled in his favor) and the movie released this month starring Tom Hanks.  In many ways, the real life reaction to Brown's fictional story could not be going better!  For those who are unaware, Brown's fictional account centers on the "fact" that early Christianity rewrote history so as to make Jesus the Divine Messiah.  The "Code" is a reference to the theory that Leonardo Da Vinci (and other artists) hid clues to the real historical faith in his artwork, just waiting to be found by those who diligently seek this knowledge.  For most of the pagan and skeptical crowds who want to embrace such speculation, there is really no problem.  Why confuse a good story with the facts?  They are enjoying their esoteric spiritual journey. 

 

Understandably, many in the Christian/Church community are upset and making a renewed defense of the historic faith.  How about the Jewish community?  It would seem to be a minimal issue for many.  After all, most of our people have enough questions about the historical, real Yeshua/Jesus without needing the assistance of Dan Brown.  However, there are probably enough skeptics in the Jewish community who will see Brown's theories as another option in disproving the messianic claims of Yeshua as clearly found in the New Testament.  As a Messianic Rabbi, I would like to highlight a few of the more obvious historical problems with The Da Vinci Code (better called Brown's Code) as they might relate to the larger Jewish community.

 

First are the wild theories around the person of Yeshua.  Brown purposely avoids the earliest Jewish testimonies to the person of Yeshua of Nazareth.  How ironic that he seems more intrigued by the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (4th century CE) rather than the eyewitness accounts of those who walked with Yeshua in first century Israel.  But if it's spectacular theories you want, you can find them in those exotic writings.  For example, Yeshua is said to have been married to Miryam Magdalene and even fathered a daughter named Sarah.  In the story there seems to be a tangential focus on the Holy Grail (in reality, the Kiddush cup at the last seder!) and some of its supposed mystical powers.  Yet part of Brown's code is that it is not the cup but Miryam Magdalene herself who is the Holy Grail as the wife of Yeshua and mother of his progeny.  That is why she is the one (not Yochanan/John) sitting next to Yeshua at the last seder (if you have spiritual eyes to see!)  Known only by the secret Gnostic society, Miryam and daughter Sarah left Israel after the death of Yeshua in lived in the Jewish community of France! 

 

Clearly through all this, Yeshua is not the divine Mashiach predicted by the Jewish prophets.  It was the later church that exalted the divinity of Yeshua and suppressed this real "history."  It must be noted for anyone who wants to look at the objective history, that the early believers in Yeshua (both Jewish and Gentile) clearly rejected such writings as the Gnostic gospels for good reason.  These apocrapha accounts, along with Dan Brown's modern application, attempt to rewrite history and undercut the original understanding of Yeshua by the earliest Messianic Jews who were eyewitnesses to the history.A large part of Brown's conspiracy theories revolve around the supposed corruption of Constantine and the Council of Nicea (325 AD).  The writer suggests that this Roman Emperor crushed the "real" understanding of Jesus and substituted the Divine Messiah.  We must admit that Constantine was not a great friend of our people.  We can even agree that it is unfortunate that he adjusted the cultural expression of Christianity away from its Jewish moorings.  But having said that, we should also affirm that Brown attempts to rewrite history to fit his own speculations. 

 

It is still quite amazing that anyone can read the original source material for the life of Yeshua (the Gospels) and see that Messianic Judaism always held to the divine Messiah.  Towards the end of his ministry, Yeshua asked his disciples "Who do you say that I am?"  To that Shimon/Peter responded "You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living G-d" (Mattityahu 16:13-16).  You see, Constantine and the Council of Nicea did not invent a new doctrine of a divine Messiah in the year 325.  They were actually responding to some aberrant teachings of the Gnostics in their day by reaffirming the long standing belief that Yeshua of Nazareth was the promised Messiah as described in the Tenach.  How strange that a modern book and movie would dust off this old pagan Gnosticism and market it for the gullible contemporary masses.  Although many in the Jewish community might not even notice this attraction to paganism or even care, this situation paradoxically has a strong Jewish point of interest. 

 

This is where Parashat Emor seems to fit in.  As we review the ordinances of HaShem, we are reminded of the historical roots of our faith.  It is not mystic gnositicism or even creative revisionist history.  The mitzvot and holy days are constant reminders to us of the divine revelation that came from Sinai.  As for the supposed facts of Dan Brown, frankly, what society needs today is a good strong dose of the historical Yeshua as found in Messianic Judaism.  A fresh understanding of the Jewish Jesus as seen in the earliest gospels written by his Jewish followers would go a long way in protecting us for such meshugas (craziness) like the Da Vince Code.  We would do well to follow the admonition of one of those disciples who exhorted the early believers:

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from G-d, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" [I Yochanan/John 4:1]. 

Shabbat shalom!

*Some of this material was gleaned from Cracking Da Vince's Code by James Garlow and Peter Jones