Faith advice

Hi, I’m hoping to get some advice for my faith journey. This post is not meant to offend anyone’s views but challenge my own. My mom and dad have been separated since I was small, and both have unique religious and cultural aspects; my dad is a secular Jew, and my mom is a Christian. I have been to synagogue and church, so I have grown up learning about both traditions. A few years ago, I started to become more interested in Judaism. Since then, I have studied more about the religion, read the Torah, commentaries, etc.

However, I am having trouble outright ignoring the traditions and teachings of The New Testament. I do not believe the claims of the “Messiah” of the New Testament, but I think the book’s writers have clear teachings important to Judaism, and I feel some criticisms of the New Testament are mistaken. For example, The New Testament was not the first to criticize reciting prayers or following commandments blindly without realizing there’s a more important meaning behind it. Still, it did universalize that message in the context of history. I’m often a little confused on the vast Jewish criticisms of some passages from The New Testament, like declaring some foods clean, but current modern sects of Judaism, like reform Judaisms, follow no dietary commandments at all while the New Testament teachers that no commandment of the Torah shall be ignored.

I view the New Testament as just another commentary of the Torah from a Rabbi who influenced a religion that over a billion people follow today. So my question is, is there a prohibition of being a Jew who views the New Testament as an important piece of commentary on the law? If not, why should modern sects, like reform Judaism who often do not follow most of the law, be viewed as authoritative on religious matters while The New Testament, which orders its followers not to ignore the Torah, be considered right and some teachings?