I had something similar to this thrown at me recently. It came from a Christian who told me that Judaism is death, because he thought I was following Judaism. Being in their mindset at one point, I know what he was referring to. The problem is that most Christians don’t understand Judaism. They think that it is just following the commandments that are found in the Old Testament. That’s it. They are wrong though. Yeshua/Jesus even speaks about this in Mark 7 and other places, as well as Stephen in Acts because even back then, they weren’t following the commandments in the Old Testament.
Judaism and Christianity have a LOT in common. More than either would be willing to admit. The sad thing about it though is that those similarities are exactly what Yeshua was speaking AGAINST in his Mark 7 account. They are man-made traditions. Things not found in the Bible. Judaism has the Talmud, Mishna, Tanya and others. Commentaries passed down from Rabbi to Rabbi on how to follow God correctly. Christianity has various commentaries that have been passed down as well. You can see them near the Bible section in most Christian book stores. Pastors/preachers/rabbis (teachers) use these commentaries in both religions for their teachings/sermons. To keep perpetuating how a group of men understood their viewpoint of the Bible at one point. And because this information is coming from those teachers it isn’t questioned. They have been studying this for years and went to school for it after all, right?
However, the Bible tells us that God’s Holy Spirit is our teacher, not man. Nehemiah 9:20, John 14:26
The question becomes, are you willing to keep following someone else’s understanding of the Bible because it has been that way for however many thousands of years, or are you willing to submit to God and admit you don’t know everything about His Word and let His Spirit show you and teach you?