"In Order to be a Good Christian, One Must First be a Good Jew"

I first read that statement  many years ago, on the dedication page of a novel whose title now escapes me. I always felt the truth of that statement, probably in part because I have Jewish cousins, and a Jewish uncle, a Polish emigre who married my mother's youngest sister,  whom I naturally felt very close to, even though I am Catholic. I was fortunate to have grown up in an unusually ecumenical family: my mother's parents were Irish immigrants whose six children all married people with different religious backgrounds, and all were welcomed into our family.  This was at a time when such ecumenism was unusual: the decade after the end of World War II  But the reason I mention this is because I recently started reading a book by Peter Kreet having to do with the Bible, and I wanted to share a passage with you in which he articulates what he  calls the miracle of the Jewish people.

The passage occurs during his discussion of Genesis, and it is thus:

"The call of Abraham [by God] in Genesis 12 comes right after the [story of the] Tower of Babel in chapter 11 to contrast man's way with God's way..... How reasonable the Tower of Babel sounds, and how silly the call of Abraham seems!  What a way to fight the serious battle against evil - to pick out one man, flawed like all of us, for a lifelong trek into the wilderness with no road map and no guarantees, only promises.  Yet this is the beginning of history's most public miracle: the Jewish people.  Their survival and continued rejuvenation, their unparalleled flourishing and achievements, out of all proportion to their tiny size and strength, violate every known law of history and sociology.  The more we consider their history, the more we are in awe at divine providence.  The more we open our eyes to see, the more we open our mouths to gasp."

I have read  that passage over and over again, and I am always profoundly moved by the power of his words. He illuminates the details of the Bible with a clarity and directness like nothing I have ever read before. This is just one example. The book is called "You Can Understand the Bible", and reading this book has assured me that he means it. And as for my Catholic faith, I believe that God first revealed Himself to the Jewish people, and they embraced the truth of Him, but when He revealed His Corporal Self, in the Person of His Son, that truth was received not by one people but by many peoples, who embraced that truth as well. As Christians, our first miracle lies in the birth of the Jewish people; our second miracle lies in the birth of Jesus. The history goes on.