Here’s a discussion of the concept of marit ayin with respect to the mixing of meat with human milk, almond milk, and non-dairy creamer.
There is also the concept of dan l’kaf z’chut, which is giving people the benefit of the doubt. If I saw a number of Jewish people entering a church on a Saturday, I would think that either:
- their congregation is renting space for worship, or
- they are going in for a wedding or funeral.
Hell, my Reform ex sings with an Episcopal church choir every year for Easter – the church and the temple have a very friendly relationship, and I think there’s one married couple where the wife belongs to the church and the husband to the temple – which I found distinctly odd. He would NOT do so with a conservative/fundamentalist church, but he’s fine with these people.
I, the unaffiliated heathen, would have a problem doing it myself. It was damn weird, my very Jewish boyfriend getting up to go sing at a sunrise Easter service this time last year.
Attitudes vary among Jews- and to show you how much they vary, consider what happened at our (Catholic) parish a few years back. Our church building burned down (an accident caused by spontaneous combustion; contractors left a box of oily rags in a bad spot) one summer, and a rabbi at the local Jewish community center actually offered our pastor the use of their facilities for Sunday Mass!
The offer was not accepted (we used the church gymnasium for a year), but it was a heckuva kind gesture, and an indication (as if any were needed) that Jewish attitudes toward Christians and Christian services are incredibly diverse.
Along the same lines, it should be noted that among Christian Churches, the links between Catholics and Jews is the strongest. This is because, theologically, Catholics believe in redemption for ‘good Jews,’ without them having to explicitly acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, Savior, and Son of God. Not to mention the public demonstrations of the Pope in apologizing for anti-Semitism and joining in ecumenical Catholic/Jewish prayer services. Additionally, Catholics see their faith as an outgrowth of and still deeply connected to the Jewish covenant and Hebrew Scriptures. Catholics think of themselves as enlightened Jews.
The relationship between Jewish and fundamentalist Christian is tenuous at best. Right wingers support Israel’s existence, which is very much appreciated by Jews. However, the fundamentalists (of course, not all, but most) only do so because it’s their belief that the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem will bring about Second Coming. They still think Jews who don’t profess Christ are hellbound, but they’re just being nice to the ‘damned’ until they can get their Temple rebuilt.
Shalom. ;j