The objective description of similarities and differences appearing here will provide a clear and immediate overview of the nature of the Jewish-Adventist connection and will draw lessons not only for a better understanding of each other but also for a better understanding of one’s own religious identity, whether Jewish or Adventist.

Reading about the prophet Daniel and his book in the pages of Shabbat Shalom may surprise some. Yet we should realize that the biblical book of Daniel has not only been, traditionally, a place where Jews and Christians have met but also where they have departed from each other.

There was a time when dialogue was still possible. People traveled from place to place, and on the Sabbath, at the gathering in the synagogue, they had much to discuss. The conversation was exciting. The first words of the speaker caught everyone’s attention. How well he spoke! The talk concerned a certain Messiah. So the worshipers attentively followed the discourse of the visiting rabbi from Jerusalem. Like them, he spoke their language and based his presentation on their well-known scriptural criteria. The Messiah he talked about could be recognized in the texts they read and studied earnestly, day after day.

The Jewish-Christian encounter requires more than just goodwill. The first duty of both parties is to strive to eliminate prejudice and hatred. This is needed not only for obvious human and psychological reasons. This is essentially a religious duty. For as Jules Isaac put it, “The anti-Semitism of Christians and the anti-Christianity of Jews are equally an insult to God.”¹