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This article describes practices of Messianic Judaism.

The reader should understand:

• Gentiles who practice Messianic Judaism do not consider themselves Jewish.
• The various mainstream Jewish denominations, e.g., Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist do not consider Messianic Judaism to be Judaism at all.
• Although the term "Messianic" can refer to various religious views, when referring to current religious practices, it is mainly associated with Messianic Judaism, also commonly referred to as the Messianic Movement.
• Some congregations that claim to be Messianic are, in reality, a Jewish outreach ministry of a Protestant church, the same way such churches have outreaches to the homeless, people in hospitals, the poor, etc. They use some Messianic terminology and a few Jewish symbols but their theology and practices are essentially the same as the supporting church.

The following practices are common in Messianic Judaism. They reflect an effort to express faith in Jesus in a "culturally Jewish" way as contrasted to "culturally Christian" ways found in Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• Many Messianics do not use the "Christian" label. Some make this choice because of its negative connotations to the Jewish community and some because they prefer to label themselves in a manner that reflects their Jewish identity. Still others reject this label because their worship, practices, and observances bear little resemblance to those of Christianity.

• Worship services are generally held on Friday evenings and Saturday, rather than Sunday, as they recognize that "HaShem" blessed only the seventh day as a day to be set apart for Him by both Jewish and Gentile. (Video clips of a Sabbath morning Messianic worship service.l)

• They celebrate Jewish festivals, including Pesach (Passover), Hanukkah, Purim, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), among others.

• Although individual Messianics who have Christian relatives may celebrate Christmas, Easter, etc., to preserve family harmony, holidays added by the gentile Church are not officially recognized by Messianic Judaism.

• They call their places of worship congregations, ke-hi-lah (Hebrew for congregation), synagogues, shuls, or Beit Knesset rather than churches.

• Many recognize that the Bible is a book in continuum, not a book divided into two sections, one of which called "old", while the other is called "new". They see the whole book as vibrant and relevant to modern life.

• They do not consider the "Oral" Torah divinely inspired or binding.

• Instead of using the name "New Testament", many use the term "Apostolic Writings" or the Hebrew term Brit Chadasha (meaning "New Covenant").

• They display Menorahs and Stars of David rather than crosses.

• They use Hebrew Torah scrolls in their services.

• They recite or cant (see cantillation) traditional Jewish prayers such as the Shema, Amidah, Aleinu, Kaddish, Kiddush, Motzi, Shehecheyanu, Adon Olam, Avinu Malkenu and the Birkhat-HaKohanim, also called the Priestly Blessing or the Aaronic Benediction.

• Many wear kippot (Jewish head coverings), prayer shawls and tzitzit.

• They call their clergy rabbis or teachers or "Congregational Leaders" rather than priests, ministers or Reverends.

• They perform bar mitzvahs for boys and bat mitzvahs for girls.

• They perform the brit milah (covenant of circumcision) for Jewish male babies.

• Unlike Catholicism and some Protestant denominations, they practice "believers only" baptism (no infant baptism) and only by immersion, not sprinkling or pouring. They recognize a prior Christian immersion baptism if the person was a believer when baptized.

• They refer to Jesus and to apostles by what they believe to be their Hebrew names. Thus, Jesus is called Yeshua (Y'shua), John is called Yochanan, and Paul is called Sha'ul.

• Many Messianic Jews observe the Jewish dietary laws (kashrut). Among some Messianic groups (but not all), this is compulsory; it is held that the laws of kashrut are still God's will for Jews today. It is argued that faith in Jesus should make them more Jewish, not less. Other Messianic groups, however, are less dogmatic about this. The vast majority of Messianic gentiles believe the kashrut laws were discontinued, based on several passages, e.g., Acts 10:9.

• Views about the need of circumcision in order for men to join are not clear.

• Some Messianic congregations scrupulously avoid many traditional Christian terms that evoke negative emotional reactions among Jews and substitute neutral terms. Other congregations use both Christian and Messianic terminology in roughly equal amounts.

• Christ (Messiah)
• church (congregation, ke-hi-lah, shul)
• Cross (tree, execution stake)
• crucifixion (death, execution), crucified (executed, put to death, nailed to the tree, hanged on a tree)
• Jesus (Yeshua)
• Old Testament (Tanakh)
• New Testament (Brit Chadasha)
• Trinity (triunity)
• Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh)
• Jehovah (Hashem)
• gospel (good news)
• evangelize (tell the good news)

Source

The author of this article, Rick Reinckens, is a Messianic gentile who has attended HaShem Messianic Synagogue in Dallas, Texas since December 1999. He has completed four Messianic Yeshiva courses, a three-day orientation on Messianic Judaism given by BHS, has extensively read Messianic authors such as Dan Juster, John C. Fisher, Michael L. Brown and David Stern. He has also studied Hebrew and traditional (non-Messianic) Judaism and has attended the Reform Jewish Temple Emanu-El in Dallas since early 2003. He also holds a Certificate in Theology from the Dallas Extension Division of Interdenominational Theological Center (Protestant) in Atlanta, Georgia. He has written extensively on theology and apologetics and is the webmaster of about 20 Protestant and Messianic websites.