Tradition has made it about “assimilationist Jews” but the actual point was the respect shown the temple, of which there was exactly one. I think this fellow honors that he doesn’t go eat his ham sandwiches in an Orthodox Jewish synagogue — he has that respect for people who still strive to revere the law in its exactitude. Not keeping kosher privately at home isn’t the same as taking a legally proscribed animal, a pig, to the one and only temple to slay it as an offering.
So why would I, as a Christian, care? Because the entire backdrop of Judaism, with its scripture and history and traditions, is necessary for the Christian story to make ultimate sense. The context for an Incarnation isn’t there without it.
Maybe, I think that's in the authors head While I'm aware of the assimilation issue, and surgery like "uncircumcision" so you wouldn't stand out in the baths, I don't think I've heard anyone other than the author describe the struggle as anything other than against the Greeks. Of course I think our revolution was against England, despite the existance of loyalist militias.
Orthodox Christians’ worship has its roots in Jewish worship.
For starters:
° our holy days begin at sundown with the lighting of lamps.
° the Psalms are at the heart of all of the daily prayer hours.
° great reverence and dignity is given to the book of the Gospels
° the church architecture borrows from the Jerusalem temple with certain areas restricted to the clergy.
° the Feast of feasts, Pascha (Easter) is closely linked to the Passover, as the title “Pascha” implies.
I'm a Christian. I said it before and will say it again: In a strictly historical context, Christianity is just a very weird sect of Judaism.