THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994              TAG: 9412210203
SECTION: COMMENTARY               PAGE: J2   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Book Review 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   31 lines

BRIEFLY

A RABBI TALKS WITH JESUS

An Intermillenial, Interfaith Exchange

JACOB NEUSNER

Doubleday. 154 pp. paper. $9.

DURING THE PAST 30 years, genuine interfaith dialogue between Jews and Christians, tragically missing for 2,000 years, has occurred, culminating in the Vatican's recent recognition of the State of Israel.

Conservative Rabbi Jacob Neusner, a professor of religious studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa, is at the forefront of this promising ecumenical movement. In A Rabbi Talks With Jesus: An Intermillenial, Interfaith Exchange, Neusner focuses on the Gospel of Matthew in an attempt to show how Judaism differs from the route taken by Jesus and his followers. In the process, he hopes that Jews and Christians alike will deepen their appreciation for their respective faiths and promote mutual understanding and respect.

- RABBI ISRAEL ZOBERMAN by CNB