25 Years Since David Flusser’s Passing

How to cite this article: Serge Ruzer, “25 Years Since David Flusser’s Passing,” Jerusalem Perspective (2025) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/31014/].

In this essay, I want mostly to share a few personal recollections about the late professor David Flusser, who died twenty-five years ago this September. I was first exposed to Flusser’s research in the late 1970s in Moscow, when I somehow laid my hands on a photocopy of his “Theses on the Emergence of Christianity from Judaism.”^[6] Overwhelmed by the authority and clarity of his presentation, I shared my impression with some others in the local Jewish movement. At that time the Jewish movement in Moscow was fighting for the freedom to leave the country but in the meantime—as many of its members got stuck in Russia for years with repeated refusals of their applications for emigration—it also tried to develop a variety of cultural activities. I was consequently glad to receive an invitation to present Flusser’s views at the historical seminar conducted under the auspices of the movement.

As the date of the planned discussion was approaching, some people protested, arguing that the topic, Early Christianity, was not helpful to reviving a long-suppressed Jewish identity in Russia and just plain problematic, while others voted for its importance. Torn between different opinions, the head of the seminar started to ask Jewish visitors from the West – mostly community activists – for advice. I do not remember the details, but according to my recollection, a spectrum of negative opinions was voiced: from the mild suggestion that maybe Christianity’s emergence from Judaism was truly not the most appropriate topic for the 1970s Moscow setting, to the more extreme view that it would be better if Flusser, too, did something else. In the final account, my presentation was cancelled – I was completely unaware that in those days in Israel Flusser was a media star of sorts, speaking about his research on TV. Though sensitivities, even of a different kind, might have existed there too.

Be sure to check out these recent JP articles:

• 
  Musings on the Magi: What Theological Lessons Can Be Drawn from Matthew’s Infancy Narrative?
  The theological lessons of the magi story are complex and nuanced. They require balance and wisdom, and they stretch us beyond what we may feel is practical or reasonable to achieve. But what good is theology if it does not aspire to a vision of a better world?
• 
  Mary and Israel
  Mary, the mother of Jesus, must be seen in the context of Jewish suffering.
• 
  A Jerusalem Perspective on the Magi
  A new collection of articles on Matthew’s narrative of the magi. Available 7 December 2025!
• 
  The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomical Perspective
  Can astronomy help us to identify the “star” the magi followed to Bethlehem?
• 
  The Narrative of the Magi: Some Notes from a Jewish Perspective
  What purpose does Matthew’s choice of the title “magi” serve when he used this term to describe the bearers of the messianic tidings?
• 
  Wise Men or Stooges: Who Were Matthew’s Magi?
  Matthew’s magi reprise the role of the wizards of Egypt in the Joseph and Moses narratives, but with a surprising twist.

• ^[1] David Flusser, “Christianity in the Eyes of the Jew,” in his Jewish Sources in Early Christianity: Studies and Essays (Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim, 1979), 13-27. ↩
• ^[2] Alexander Men, Bibliological Dictionary, (3 vols.; Moscow: Alexander Men Foundation, 2002). ↩
• ^[3] David Flusser, Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism (ed. Serge Ruzer; Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben-Zvi and Hebrew University Magnes, 2002) [Hebrew] and idem, Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Sages and Literature (ed. Serge Ruzer; Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben-Zvi and Hebrew University Magnes, 2002) [Hebrew]. ↩
• ^[4] David Flusser, “The Hatred of Israel in the Gospel of Matthew” in his, Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Sages and Literature (ed. Serge Ruzer; Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben-Zvi and Hebrew University Magnes, 2002), 345-347 [Hebrew]. ↩
• ^[5] David Flusser, Judaism of the Second Temple Period Volume 1: Qumran and Apocalypticism (trans. Azzan Yadin; Jerusalem: Magnes and Jerusalem Perspective; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), and idem, Judaism of the Second Temple Period Volume 2: The Jewish Sages and their Literature (trans. Azzan Yadin; Jerusalem: Magnes and Jerusalem Perspective; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009). ↩
• ^[6] David Flusser, “Theses on the Emergence of Christianity from Judaism,” Immanuel 5 (1975): 74-84. ↩