My freshman year of college, I was accosted by a classmate who lived across the hall in our dorm, a born-again Christian whose fervor and certainty I found both compelling and disturbing. Learning that I was Jewish, she immediately expressed her admiration for Jews as "God’s chosen people." She asked questions about Jewish belief and practice but the one question that she couldn’t get her mind around, the one she kept returning to was, "But you don’t believe in Jesus, right? So according to your religion, how are you saved?"
I, too, had difficulty wrapping my head around that question–it’s such a fundamentally un-Jewish question. My classmate was taking Christian categories and simply trying to find the analogous terms or concepts in Judaism. But of course it doesn’t work that way. Just as languages each have their own flavors and nuances and words that can’t be readily translated into other languages, a religious tradition is a rich system of symbol and meaning with its own integrity. There is no "Jewish" translation of the word, or, more importantly, of the concept of a "savior" like Jesus.
Of all the many reasons this might be so, I prefer one pointed out by one of my teachers. Jesus, according to Christian theology, is given to humanity as a gift from God to remove its sins. In the words of John 3:16 of sports arena fame: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." More plainly, Jesus removes the sins of all who believe in him. As the old Latin mass put it, "qui tollis peccata mundi"–"who removes the sins of the world." In Christian thought, people need Jesus to remove their sinfulness and lead them to salvation, as my born-again Christian classmate so wholeheartedly believed.
Jews, however, have never adopted the individualistic concept of salvation that marks Christian theology, where salvation is granted on an individual basis to those who accept Jesus as their savior. Judaism, from its earliest stages, has been marked by a collective approach to redemption, rather than individual one to salvation: We pray together to witness the coming of the Messiah, to be taken up as a people to our Holy Land. We pray for God to hear our prayers. This is why Jewish liturgy is phrased almost exclusively in the plural. "Forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement." Judaism is a religion of the "we," not the "I."
In short, I tried to explain to my classmate that Jews don’t need Jesus. We don’t need someone to hold us when we fall short, we don’t need someone to "save" us because we have each other. Jews recognize that our fate is collective: we rise or fall together. This is the basis of the famous Talmudic saying, "kol Yisrael aravim zeh ba-zeh"–"all Israel is responsible for one another." (B. Shevuot 39a) We gain strength from knowing we can lean on others when in need, and gain responsibility from knowing that others lean on us. Hand-in-hand, with God’s help, we help each other reach our collective destiny, a destiny of redemption that rests with God, not with a personal savior.
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
An intercessor is not needed. Jews speak directly to God any time we want to. Human sacrifice has been off the table since the angel stilled Abraham's hand when he thought he was doing God's work sacrificing Isaac. No Jew could accept (a) that Jesus was God's son, (b) that God would accept the sacrifice of a human being (c) that God could be subdivided or that acceptance of Jesus is the one way to God. All of these ideas are profoundly un-Jewish. God is not some tyranical Incan idol who refuses to make crops grow if a virgin is not sacrificed to his outrage.
Karen
We didn't "reject" Jesus. We rejected the claims that he was the Son of God and the Messiah, neither of which has any room within Jewish thought.
Those who say that the Holocaust and the fall of Jerusalem were just punishments for the "rejection" of Jesus are of the same mind that the Nazis were, that Mel Gibson's father is, that the President of Iran is. They are hateful and they need to be taught if they are educable and ignored if they are not.
The evil that has been done by people professing to believe in Jesus is so profound that Jesus, who was Jewish, would weep were he aware of it. There are people who believe that the Jews should all return to Israel so that Jesus can slaughter them if they are not converted when he returns. This is the sickness of belief without thought and Christianity without love.
Does nobody get it, but me? The Ju's are Jesus/Yeshuah/ Joshuah! God promised to deliver a Messiah unto you (ALL)The Messiah is not a person, but an agenda(or Word, or perspective)and the agenda is Love...Uncompromising, Unconditional Love, and that Love is God and that Love conquers ALL!
There are many religions, with many Bibles all of which have been written with a particular agenda in mind. The Old Testament and the New Testament represents the evolution of mankind, from the beginning of Time ‘till the end of Time, both good and evil (make no mistake about that !) The problem with Bibles, is they are a compilation of twisted semantics, mis-interpretation and slanted agenda, designed to lead you in a certain direction, other than where your heart leads you. “God dwells within the inner recesses of you heart “ We are the only creatures on this planet that live by our intellects instead of our instincts, consequently the only creatures that can commit sin… “Do not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” (hello !) Original sin is disobedience and we are ALL born with the gift of “freewill” and the ability to disobey! (Ya think God is playing a game with everybody here ? hmmmm)
“Everybody knows something, nobody knows everything” (except God)
We would be Way further down this “Road Called Love” if we could all get together and sift out the BS and focus on the Love. There will never be peace on this earth until we can accomplish that simple, but neigh on to impossible feat. How many times in church do you hear a sermon about Love in the course of a year, two, maybe three ?… How many times do you hear Yeshuah quoted in the course of a year, instead of Paul ... 85% percent of Christianity is based upon what Paul taught, 10% is based upon what the Apostles taught… and 5% is based upon what Yeshuah/Jesus taught (What’s wrong with this picture ?) We need to get back to Judah Theology instead of Roman Theology ! (hello !)
“Life is 90% bull and ten percent Love” The 10% Love makes the 90% BS bearable, Even at 9% Life becomes unbearable…Don’t let anybody cheat you out of your 10% !
Yeshuah is the Son of God (but then, aren’t we ALL sons and daughters of God !) He is what we are ALL supposed to be, Love, (as in ,Created in the image and likeness of !) …to Love and be Loved ...Uncompromising, Unconditional Lovers. That kind of Love is a standard that God has set through Yeshuah, and the standard is “How much are you willing to sacrifice in the name of Love … I think this song sums it all up
http://youtube.com/watch?v=knMG8D0LMhA
You can start all the religions you want (After all God gave everybody freewill, don’t you think everybody should have freewill? Or do you believe you should go against God’s will ?) but the standard has been set through the Judah and Yeshuah… The ball’s in your court !
LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
I am Christian, for years my best friend was an orthodox Jew. I have to say that most of the Christian responses here seem quite smug. Telling Jews the ball in theri court and failing to aknowledge that Christians make Jesus look very unattractive is a gross oversisht.
God is way smarter than any Jew wants to give Him credit for. God said He would come riding on a colt of a donkey. When He came They rejected Him. Why, because they couldnt believe in what God said. There were over 300 prophecies fullfilled by Jesus. 50% at least would be IMPOSSIBLE to impersonate. And if it were possible God would have writen Prophesies that were impossible to impersonate "which he did" which proves that God is way smart, because He wrote them and Jesus fullfilled them. He even wrote that they would reject Him. Sorry Jews, but you followed the word to a T.