Anyone who has ever traveled knows how confusing it can be to get around. It's not enough to say, "I want to get from point A to point B." You'll need directions, landmarks, warnings about treacherous terrain. And you'll want to know the rules of the road, so that you'll be able to avoid those costly traffic tickets.

In fact, a travel guide is what you're looking for-a compilation of everything you'll need to get where you're going. According to traditional Judaism, the Oral Law and its later written form, known as the Talmud, does precisely this. It is Judaism's travel guide through life-a roadmap for righteousness designed to show the observant Jewish person how to follow the written Torah (Law) and the Hebrew Bible.

By Dr. Michael Brown

Whether you are a religious Jewish person or not, it is clear that all modern forms of Judaism, from Orthodox to Reform, are based upon the idea that two Torahs were given on Mount Sinai-one written and the other oral. Eventually, the oral Torah was written down, codified, commented upon and passed along to future generations of Jewish people and became known as the Talmud-the judgments and interpretations of our Sages.

All Jewish people today - whether religious or not - generally participate in Jewish religious life by engaging both biblical truth and the traditions passed along by our rabbis. It is impossible to practice normative Judaism without relating to Jewish tradition. But we should ask the question, "Does Jewish tradition carry the same weight and religious authority as the Bible?"

The following was offered by Dr. John F. Walvoord at the dedication of Chosen People Ministries' International headquarters building in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Why a Jewish mission? Why don't we have an African mission, or a French mission, or an English mission? Of course the reason is quite simple -- the Jews are a very special people. This is not a matter of our opinion, it is a matter of Scriptural revelation.

It's rather amazing that you can study the history of the church and see how blind the theologians and leaders of the church often were to the declared revelation of the Word of God concerning the special purpose of the nation of Israel. In fact, some of their theologians went so far as to say that it was impossible to save a Jew. How could they be so blind? After all, the early church was predominantly Jewish!

Why don't Jewish people believe in Jesus?

From the earliest days of what was known as the Nazarene sect of Jewish believers through the later centuries of Christianity, the majority of Jewish people have denied the claims of the New Testament. While theological and cultural differences have contributed to a hardening of positions on both sides, it may also be said that the forces of history have helped to drive a wedge between mainstream Judaism and Christianity that has made the distance even harder to bridge. One of the saddest things is that it happened so quickly. But how did it come about?