You’ve heard the phrase, “Never judge a book by its cover.” But that is exactly what we do. We see a cover that we find intriguing, and we pick it up. In this case, it wasn’t so much the cover as it was the title, The Return Of The Kosher Pig.

While I’m not sure what I expected to find, this book surprised me. What I discovered was a Jew, a rabbi, who has diligently searched the Hebrew Scriptures, the additional commentaries by centuries of Jewish scholars,and even the New Testament, and concluded that he found the Messiah. And he is Yeshua (Jesus).

First of all, allow me to briefly explain the title. The pig represents everything that is unclean to a Jew. It is unkosher. It is threatening to the Jewish mindset. In the eyes of orthodox Judaism, those who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah, both Christians and Messianic Jews, represent the ultimate uncleanness. The fact that God would take the form of a man is found to be ridiculous and scandalous. Since Jesus claimed that very identity, Judaism has labeled him as the unkosher pig, deviating from the truth of the Scriptures.

I have to admit, following all of this was very difficult for me. And I’d only made it as far as the introduction! It became very clear to me, very quickly, that Jewish though and Western thought are radically different. Western thought tends to be linear in fashion, straight and precise, based on a Greek and Latin foundation. Jewish thought, however tends more to be circular, or organic, in nature, and Hebrew reasoning is as different from Western thought as day and night. That’s a foreign way of thinking for me, and I had to take this very slow in order to understand many of the concepts that are presented in The Return Of The Kosher Pig. And I’m sure I missed much more than I captured, simply because this is so unfamiliar to me.

The Return Of The Kosher Pig seeks to answer three primary questions:

• According to Scripture and Jewish resources, was the promised Messiah of Israel to be divine or a mere human?
• What are the attributes of the Messiah in his relationship to HaShem (The God of Israel, YHVH) and what is the Messiah’s authority and dominion?
• What is an acceptable Jewish framework for discussion of the nature of the Messiah within Judaism?

Rabbi Shapira seeks to accomplish this in a structure similar to a Jewish court of law, presenting the evidence and allowing the reader to weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion. His work is detailed and meticulous, and he presents a passion for the Messiah, and for his Jewish countrymen.

There are several aspects of this book that I found very interesting and enlightening. I will share three of them, and one criticism for the purposes of this review.

Rabbi Shapira finds the Messiah in the Old Testament and other Jewish writings

As he scours the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Jewish translations and commentaries throughout the centuries, he finds ample evidence that the Messiah was predicted, that he was both human and divine, and that he came to redeem his people, and was rejected. Not claiming to be a Christian, and seeming to even struggle with the identity and title of a Messianic Jew, Rabbi Shapira has a burden for his people to see that Jesus is the one that claimed to be Messiah, and fulfilled the necessary requirements in the Jewish Law and other writings to be that Messiah.

The Return Of The Kosher Pig gives some excellent insight into the concept of the Trinity

Christianity depends upon three manifestations of one God, the Trinity. Jewish thought, however, claims that God limited himself to ten manifestations when he created the cosmos. The way these different aspects and characteristics relate and weave together, while remaining distinct, is difficult to grasp much of the time. Rabbi Shapira expressed several ideas that caused me to pause and think about how the Trinity functions. Though I haven’t finished meditating on these ideas, I know that my thinking was expanded.

Rabbi Shapira identifies the Messiah in Genesis 1

With my love for the early chapters of Genesis, when the book turned to Genesis 1, and examined the presence of the Messiah in the act of Creation, I was fascinated. Most of what he presented in this section seemed pretty basic to me, although he wrote about it as if he were surprised to find the Messiah there. But I was also presented with several concepts for consideration, deepening my own understanding of the role of Jesus in Creation.

My single criticism

In all actuality, this is probably less of a criticism, and more of a lack of understanding of the Jewish thought process on my part. However, I felt several times that Rabbi Shapira was reading more into the text of certain Scripture passages then was intended. Again, this may be simply my Western mode of reasoning, but there seemed to be several places where he drew connections that I struggled to see, and was a bit skeptical of his explanations.

All in all, I found The Return Of The Kosher Pig to be a very educating experience, and I am glad I took the time to read it carefully. Though I am not Jewish, I found the Jewish understanding of key passages relating to the Messiah enlightening. I would encourage you to pick up a copy and read it. But make sure you read carefully, to glean as much from it as you can.

Question: Have you ever stopped to consider the idea of a Messiah from a Jewish perspective? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.