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Messianic Judaism
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Messiah Yeshua
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Messianic Bible Translations
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For the Jewish religion, see Judaism. For Messianism as a religious concept, see Messiah.

Messianic Judaism is a religious sect whose congregants are comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who believe that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they call Yeshua, is both their savior and the resurrected Jewish Messiah. Messianic Jews practice their faith in a way that they consider to be authentically Torah-observant and culturally Jewish. Congregants “incorporate many of the trappings of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity,” they attend services on Friday evening and Saturday morning, recite Hebrew prayers, and sometimes even wear tallitot (prayer shawls), as is done in Judaism, “ut they worship not just God but Jesus whom they call Yeshua.”

Messianic Judaism is not considered to be a form of Judaism by most Jews, Jewish denominations,, and Christians. Messianic Jews are also not considered Jewish under the State of Israel's Law of Return.

By 1993 there were 160,000 Messianic Jews in the U. S. and 350,000 worldwide. By 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic synagogues in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide.

Identity

Disputes to the usage of identifiers often given to or by adherents of Messianic Judaism are varied, and even within the movement self-identification with one term or another can contradict each other.

Messianic Judaism describes someone who believes Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and believes obedience to the scriptures is the proper expression of faith. The term used is Messianic believer or Messianic for short. Messianic Judaism is a relatively new term, coined to help separate the practices of its followers from those of common Christianity as a whole, and in order to more closely align its faith with that of biblical and historical Judaism. However, the term itself appeared as early as 1895.

While Messianics describe Messianic Judaism as being Jewish, virtually all Jewish denominations, Jewish groups, national Jewish organizations, and others reject this classification and regard these groups as Christian. Among Messianic believers' objections to being classified as Christians include Christians' rejection the biblical festivals and have adoption of pagan festivals, such as Christmas.

Many Messianics consider their beliefs to be consistent with those of the first Jewish followers of Jesus of Nazareth, called Nazarenes (in Hebrew, Netzarim; "נצרים"), who were accepted by both Rome and the Pharisees as a legitimate Jewish sect until around the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 C. E.

The Nazarene believers split from the Gentile Christians (and also from another Jewish sect called the Ebionites) after the Gentile believers adopted pagan practices in the second century. The Christians declared a formal split from the Nazarenes in the Council of Nicea in 325 C. E. The Council demanded a formal split from all Jewish practices and interaction with Jews, on pain of death.

History

This section aims to collect and present the recorded history of Messianic Judaism.

Messianic Judaism and the Early Church

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Some Messianics argue that followers of Christianity were historically erroneously antisemitic or antinomian in their approach to Judaism, well before Constantine came to power and legalized a brand of antisemitic gentilized Christianity, thus cementing the Jewish-Christian split with the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.

Messianics often cite the fact that Jesus and his disciples were Jewish. They argue that Gentiles had a place within the faith practices of Judaism, evidenced by the recorded biblical debate over requiring new Gentile converts to follow Jewish oral law - namely the ritual of a proselyte convert to Judaism, as a prerequisite to following the written Torah. This debate took place in Acts 15, which the Jerusalem Council concluded that proselyte conversion to Judaism wasn't necessary in order for the believing Gentiles to associate with other Jews as fellow covenant members, based on faith alone in Yeshua. Messianics will argue that the debate in Acts 15 was over the application of an oral tradition regarding a Jewish conversion ritual that was simply labeled "circumcision" for short, rather than the application of the written Torah in the life of new Gentile converts, since Acts 15:21 assumes that the Gentiles will learn "Moses" which "has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath." Thus Messianics argue that the list of Acts 15 is a list of minimum requirements for formerly idolatrous Gentiles to follow in order to be able to even attend a synagogue and thus learn "Moses" as fellow covenant members with the Jews; it is believed that the Gentiles are to accept basic Noachide principals and grow in their observances from that point.

The rise in antisemitism, they argue, started as a result of Roman persecution, as Gentile believers found themselves caught between persecution by Rome for not worshiping the Emperor, and persecution within the synagogues because followers of The Way insisted on not following specific Jewish oral law in regards to proselyte conversion for Gentiles, before they could participate in the Jewish community - a community which saw Gentiles as intrinsically "unclean" and not fellow members of the covenant God made with Israel from Mt. Sinai, unless they had first formally converted to Judaism.

Thus rejected by both Rome and the synagogue, many Gentile believers were left with no alternative but to start their own congregations and communities, which over time became increasingly anti-Rome, antisemitic and eventually anti-Torah. At one point, Roman persecution of believers stopped, however antisemitic and anti-levitical sentiments would continue. As a result, later generations would gradually see no reason to maintain a link to Judaism. They minimized the importance of new believers following Jewish halakha, minimized the importance of the Jewish essence of the faith, and even minimized general Torah observance, all evidenced ultimately by the following examples: reducing of the Passover Seder to a simple service of flat bread and wine, removal of the understanding of mikvah (baptism) in conversions, and evidence by rejection of Torah observance and the later adoption of pagan Roman customs in the worship practices of a new Roman "Christian" religion which had separated itself from all things Jewish.

It is then reasoned that these factors formed the basis for Early Church fathers' various antisemitic stances in regards to followers of Jesus who were still observing Shabbat, eating kosher, keeping Jewish festivals, engaging in "other Jewish practices", professing strict monotheism - even well into the 4th and 5th centuries. Though originally the Early Church fathers thought these followers of Jewish practices were "misguided," based on what they believed "Paul teaches us," some of these later Torah-observant groups were branded as heretics under the new Roman Catholic Church, and they would ultimately disappear from the pages of recorded history until the time of the Reformation.

Origins of the modern movement

Although there were several "Messianic synagogues"—traditional Synagogues whose rabbis became believers and thus taught about Jesus from their bimah—in the late 1800s, they have little or no connection to the modern movement. The Messianic Judaism of today grew out of the Hebrew-Christian movement of the 1800's. Hebrew-Christian congregations began to emerge in England; the first of these was Beni Abraham, in London, which was founded by forty-one Hebrew-Christians. This led to a more general awareness of a type of Christianity with a Jewish background. In 1866, the Hebrew-Christian Alliance of Great Britain was organized, with branches also in several European countries and the United States. A similar group, The Hebrew Christian Alliance of America (HCAA), was organized in the U. S. in 1915. The International Hebrew-Christian Alliance (IHCA) was organized in 1925 (later becoming the International Messianic Jewish Alliance). Additional groups were formed during subsequent decades.

A major shift in the movement occurred when Martin Chernoff became the President of the HCAA (1971-1975). In June of 1973, a motion was made to change the name of the HCAA to the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) and the name was officially changed in June of 1975. The name change was significant as more than just a "semantical expression;" as Rausch states, "It represented an evolution in the thought processes and religious and philosophical outlook toward a more fervent expression of Jewish identity."

When the movement began to become larger, new organizations such as the Messianic Israel Alliance, First Fruits of Zion, and the Coalition of Torah Observant Messianic Congregations arose.

Theology

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Scriptural Canon

Messianic believers hold the TaNaKh to be divinely inspired. The Apostolic Writings are often, but not universally, considered to also be divinely inspired. Scripture editions specific to Messianic communities, such as the Complete Jewish Bible, are available.

Scriptural commentary

Some Messianic believers look to rabbinic commentaries such as the Mishnah and the Talmud, for historical insight into an understanding of biblical texts and halakha. Others do not accept these as authoritative, and may go as far as calling them "dangerous". Messianic commentaries on various books of the Bible are relatively scarce.

Doctrines

As with any religious faith, the exact tenets held vary from congregation to congregation. In general, essential doctrines of Messianic Judaism include views on God (omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, outside creation, infinitely significant and benevolent - viewpoints on Trinity vary), Jesus (often called Yeshua, he is the Jewish Messiah, though views on his divinity vary), written Torah (with a few exceptions Messianics believe Jesus taught and reaffirmed Torah and that it remains fully in force), Israel (the Children of Israel are central to God's plan, replacement theology is opposed), the Bible (Tanakh and Apostolic Writings/B'rit Chadasha usually considered the divinely inspired Scripture, though Messianics are more open to criticism of New Testament canon than is Christianity), eschatology (similar to many evangelical Christian views), and oral law (observance varies, but virtually all deem these traditions subservient to written Torah). Certain additional doctrines, including sin and atonement and faith and works, are more open to differences in interpretation.

The People of God

There exists among Messianics a number of perspectives regarding who exactly makes up God's chosen people. These are covenant membership, halakhic definition, the two-house view, and the one law/grafted in view.

Eschatology

Many Messianics believe that all of the moedim, indeed the entire Torah, intrinsically hint at the Messiah, and thus no study of the End Times is complete without understanding the major Jewish Festivals in the larger prophetic context. To these believers, Passover, First Fruits, and Shavuot were fulfilled in Jesus's first coming, and Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot will be at his second. Many Messianics believe in a literal 7000 year period for the human history of the world, with a Messianic Millennial Sabbath Kingdom before a final judgment.

Torah

The issue of Torah observance is a contentious one within Messianic Judaism. Generally, "Torah observant" congregations observe Jewish Law, biblical feasts, and the Sabbath. While most traditional Christians deny that the ritual laws and specific civil laws of the Pentateuch (though still affirming that Torah is the word of God) apply directly to themselves, passages regarding Torah observance in the New Testament are cited by Messianics that Torah was not abolished. Most Messianics believe that observance of the Torah brings about sanctification, not salvation, which was to be produced only by the Messiah.

Religious Practices

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Holiday observance

Shabbat

Worship services are generally held on Friday evenings (Erev Shabbat) or Saturday mornings. Messianic Jews believe the Sabbath is an eternal covenant between the God of Israel and his descendants (Exodus 31:16).

Jewish holidays

Messianics observe major Jewish holidays, including:

Weekly

• Shabbat (Sabbath)

Monthly

• Rosh Chodesh (Feast of the New Moon)

Yearly
Major festivals

• Pesach (Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread)
• Feast of Firstfruits
• Lag B'Omer (Counting the Omer)
• Shavuot (Feast of Weeks)
• Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
• Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)

Minor festivals

• Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah)
• Chanukkah (Feast of Dedication)
• Purim (Feast of Esther)
• Tisha B'Av (Fast of the Fifth Month)

Secular memorials

• Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
• Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day)

Dietary laws

The dietary laws of Judasim are a subject of continued debate among Messianic Jews.

Community

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Messianic Community is often overlooked in more liberal Messianic congregations; however, in more traditional congregations, the community and its activities can look more like a kibbutz as their membership grows.

Most Messianic meeting places are called synagogues and groups of believers are often referred to as congregations.

Messianic Orthodox Jews

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Within Messianic Judaism, there are a small number of “Orthodox Messianic Jews”, who believe that observance of all or almost all Jewish Halakha does not contradict, or is in harmony with, the Bible and teaching of Jesus. Mainstream Messianic Jews might drive on the Sabbath, may not practice Niddah, cover their heads, or keep Rabbinic Kashrut, whereas Orthodox Messianic Jews will not . An Orthodox Messianic synagogue or congregation is rare; Mikveh Yisrael and Ateret Yeshua are two examples. Much more common than those are Messianic congregations that provide very traditional services, such as Beth Israel Sephardic and Beit Avanim Chaiot, but do not require strict halakhic observance from their members; thus their position on Jewish practice can be considered similar to that of the Traditional Judaism movement. There are a few Orthodox Messianic websites like T.O.M.J. Beis, which may go as far as encouraging the covering of one’s head at all times, and men always wearing a Tallit katan under their clothing. Orthodox Messianic Jews may be seen by Orthodox Jews as imposters, and may be criticized by mainstream Messianics as placing too much effort into reconciling their faith with Orthodox Judaism. They nevertheless strongly identify the New Testament as scripture and hold its teachings as authoritative.

Opposition and Criticism

Jewish objections

Jewish objections to Messianic Judaism are numerous and often begin with objections to the term "Messianic Judaism" itself. Many of the major Jewish objections to Jesus are collected in this article at Aish HaTorah’s website.

Several anti-missionary organizations, such as Outreach Judaism and Jews for Judaism oppose Messianic Judaism on theological grounds, usually from an Orthodox Jewish perspective. In recent years these organizations have noticeably shifted their focus from opposition to Christianity to opposition to Messianic Judaism.

Denominations and organizations

All major Jewish denominations, as well as national Jewish organizations, reject that Messianic Judaism is a form of Judaism.

According to the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

"For us in the Jewish community, anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate. Through that belief she has placed herself outside the Jewish community. Whether she cares to define herself as a Christian or as a 'fulfilled Jew,' 'Messianic Jew,' or any other designation is irrelevant; to us, she is clearly a Christian."

Concerning Christian-Jewish reconciliation and Christian missions to the Jews, Emil Fackenheim wrote:

"... Except in relations with Christians, the Christ of Christianity is not a Jewish issue. There simply can be no dialogue worthy of the name unless Christians accept — nay, treasure — the fact that Jews through the two millennia of Christianity have had an agenda of their own. There can be no Jewish-Christian dialogue worthy of the name unless one Christian activity is abandoned, missions to the Jews. It must be abandoned, moreover, not as a temporary strategy but in principle, as a bimillennial theological mistake. The cost of that mistake in Christian love and Jewish blood one hesitates to contemplate. ...

A post-Holocaust Jew can still view Christian attempts to convert Jews as sincere and well intended. But even as such they are no longer acceptable: They have become attempts to do in one way what Hitler did in another."

According to 1998 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents issued by Canadian B'nai Brith,

"One of the more alarming trends in antisemitic activity in Canada in 1998 was the growing number of incidents involving messianic organizations posing as "synagogues". These missionizing organizations are in fact evangelical Christian proselytizing groups, whose purpose is specifically to target members of the Jewish community for conversion. They fraudulently represent themselves as Jews, and these so-called synagogues are elaborately disguised Christian churches."

The State of Israel

In December 1989, the Supreme Court of Israel set a legal precedent when it denied the right of return to Gary and Shirley Beresford, Messianic Jews from South Africa. In rejecting their petition, Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon cited their belief in Jesus. “In the last two thousand years of history the Jewish people have decided that Messianic Jews do not belong to the Jewish nation and have no right to force themselves on it,” he wrote, concluding that “those who believe in Jesus, are, in fact, Christians.”

Jews for Jesus

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Since the Christian organization Jews for Jesus is most often the first encounter Jews have with Christians who identify as Jews (believing Jesus as the Messiah), this traditional evangelical Christian missionary organization has been confused with Messianic Judaism as a whole. Some Messianic believers do not view a relationship with Jews for Jesus simply because Jews for Jesus seeks to turn Jews into traditional evangelical Christians who may or may not keep kosher, celebrate Jewish holidays, or keep the Sabbath on Saturday. Furthermore, Messianic believers object to Jews for Jesus on the grounds that the organization seems to encourage Christian converts from Judaism to worship on Sunday, to not keep kosher, and to celebrate "Christian" holidays such as Easter and Christmas - practices clearly forbidden by Torah. Instead, the vast majority of the followers of Messianic Judaism have come into the Messianic Movement in order to worship God more as the Torah dictates (and as they believe Jesus taught), and to not in fact worship God as traditional evangelical Christianity has dictated - this motivation then serves as the clear distinction between Messianic Jews and those of such traditional evangelical Christian organizations such as Jews for Jesus. In the simplest terms, Messianic Jews follow Torah, whereas it is argued that Jews for Jesus does not.

Jewish contribution

Most Jews believe that Messianic Judaism is not a form of Judaism, and that the name of the movement itself is deceptive. However, a number of Jewish scholars have made some contribution to the literature or scholarly perspectives of Messianic Judaism, who were not themselves Messianic.

Reform Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok has stated that Messianic Judaism (along with some other alternative movements) is a legitimate form of Judaism. He has written a popular book about the movement, Voices of Messianic Judaism.

Reconstructionist Rabbi Carol Harris-Shapiro has stated her belief that Messianic Judaism is a form of Judaism, while simultaneously a form of Christianity. Most of the books she has written are about the movement, and the most prominent is Messianic Judaism: A Rabbi's Journey through Religious Change in America.

World Karaite leader Nehemia Gordon has written the popular book The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus, which has a corresponding website (HebrewYeshua.com). Gordon, as a Karaite, does not consider the New Testament or any canon other than the Tanakh to be authoritative, but he makes his position clear that Jesus was quintessentially Jewish and was a devout Torah teacher. However, Gordon believes that Jesus was not a Pharisee and was in opposition to the Pharisees, agreeing with some Messianics, and disagreeing with others.

The Jerusalem Synoptic School (website http://jerusalemperspective.com/ ) is a study group founded in 1987 and centered in Israel. It is comprised of primarily Jewish scholars that research and publish about various historical aspects of first century Judaism, proper understanding of the Bible, and the environment and culture in which Jesus would have taught.

The late Orthodox Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby wrote extensively about Jesus and his early Jewish followers, his most notable books being Jesus the Pharisee and Paul the Hellenist. Some of his conclusions were that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish Pharisee and that his early followers were part of an entirely Jewish phenomenon. But he also concludes that Saul of Tarsus was an antinomian apostate entirely responsible for the birth of Gentile Christianity, and that the New Testament we know today (especially the book of Acts) has been corrupted by the Church. His work is very controversial to Messianics.

References and footnotes

1. ^ Harris-Shapiro, Carol (1999). "Studying the Messianic Jews". Messianic Judaism: a rabbi’s journey through religious change in America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. p. 1. ISBN 0807010405. LCCN 98-0 – 0. Messianic Judaism is a largely American Jewish/Christian movement whose origins can be traced in the United States to Hebrew Christian missions to the Jews in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Jesus people of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the resurgence of American Jewish ethnicity during those same decades. Messianic Jewish congregations are comprised of both those born Jewish who accept Jesus as their savior and their Gentile supporters who adopt a 'Jewish lifestyle'. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
2. ^ "So, What Exactly is a Messianic Congregation?". RabbiYeshua.com. Kehilat Sar Shalom. 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-20. Messianic Judaism of the first century busied itself with telling everyone of the Good News, it boldly proclaimed Yeshua – the resurrected Messiah – to all men and women.…Sin is lawlessness, it is "Torahlessness". If one is truly in Messiah, then one will be Torah observant.
3. "Who we are and what we believe". Congregation Ohr Chadash. 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-20. Is it Jewish to believe in Jesus (Yeshua, his Hebrew name)? One answer to this and other complex questions is simply that all those who have accepted Yeshua as the Messiah, and have accepted G-d's provision of atonement through him, remain Jewish. There is no conflict here.…Some may ask, "Doesn't Yeshua deny or oppose Judaism?" Not according to his own statements, or according to the lives of his earliest followers, the apostles.…Yeshua was a Jew living in a Jewish land among Jewish people. All the apostles were Jewish as were the writers of the Newer Testament. For many years, faith in Yeshua was strictly a Jewish one.
4. "Hashivenu's Core Values". Congregation Ruach Israel. August 8, 2000. Retrieved 2007-02-15. Messianic Judaism is a Judaism and not a cosmetically altered "Jewish style" version of what is extant in the wider Christian community. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. ^ Reinckens, Rick (2002). "Frequently Asked Questions". MessianicJews. Info. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
6. Berkley, George E. (1997). "And Collapse…and Collapse". Jews. Boston, MA: Branden Books. pp. pg. 129. ISBN 0828320276. LCCN 96-0 – 0. A more rapidly growing organization is the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America which seeks to incorporate many of the trappings of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity. It's congregants assemble on Friday evening and Saturday morning, recite Hebrew prayers, and sometimes even wear talliot (prayer shawls). But they worship not just God but Jesus, whom they call Yeshua. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
7. ^
   • Kaplan, Dana Evan (2005). "Introduction". In Dana Evan Kaplan (ed.) (ed.). The Cambridge companion to American Judaism. Cambridge Companions to Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. pp. pg. 9. ISBN 0521822041. LCCN 20-4. For most American Jews, it is acceptable to blend some degree of foreign spiritual elements with Judaism. The one exception is Christianity, which is perceived to be incompatible with any form of Jewishness....Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely rejected by the majority of Jews. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
   • Ariel, Yaakov (2005) . "Protestant Attitudes to Jews and Judaism During the Last Fifty Years". In Robert S. Wistrich (ed.) (ed.). Terms of survival: the Jewish world since 1945 (Digital Printing edition ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. pp. pg. 343. ISBN 0415100569. LCCN 94-0 – 0. Evangelical Christians are engaged in aggressive and extensive missionary activity among Jews. Among other results, this has given rise to groups of 'Messianic Jews', of which 'Jews for Jesus' is the most outstanding example. These are actually Jews who have adopted the evangelical Protestant faith and its precepts. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
   • Simmons, Shraga. "Messianic Jews, Buddhist Jews". Ask Rabbi Simmons. About.com. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Yet there are limits to pluralism, beyond which a group is schismatic to the point where it is no longer considered Jewish. For example, everyone considers Messianic Judaism and belief in Buddah as outside of the Jewish sphere.
   • Schoen, Robert (2004). "Jews, Jesus, and Christianity". What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew about Judaism. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press. pp. pg. 11. ISBN 082941777X. LCCN 20-3 – 0. The Jewish people believe that when the Messiah comes there will be an end to world suffering.…Jews do not believe, therefore, that the Messiah has come, and they do not recognize Jesus as their savior or as the Son of God. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
   • "Messianic Judaism: A Christian Missionary Movement". Messiah Truth Project. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Messianic Judaism is a Christian movement that began in the 1970s combining a mixture of Jewish ritual and Christianity. There are a vast and growing numbers of these groups, and they differ in how much Jewish ritual is mixed with conventional Christian belief. One end of the spectrum is represented by Jews For Jesus, who simply target Jews for conversion to Christianity using imitations of Jewish ritual solely as a ruse for attracting the potential Jewish converts. On the other end are those who don't stress the divinity of Jesus, but present him as the "Messiah." They incorporate distorted Jewish ritual on an ongoing basis.
   • Ariel, David S. (1995). "The Messiah". What do Jews believe?: The Spiritual Foundations of Judaism. New York, NY: Schocken Books. pp. pg. 212. ISBN 0805241191. LCCN 94-0 – 00. The Jews of the first centuries of the Common Era believed the Messiah had not yet come, while the followers of Jesus—strongly influenced by contemporary Jewish messianism—asserted that he was the Messiah. The belief that the Messiah has arrived and that he is Jesus is the teaching that most acutely divides Judaism from Christianity. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
   • Nuesner, Jacob (2000) . "Come, Let us Reason Together". A Rabbi Talks With Jesus. Donald H. Akerson (forward) (Revised ed. ed.). Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0773520465. LCCN 20-1. I write this book to shed some light why, while Christians believe in Jesus Christ and the good news of his rule in the kingdom of Heaven, Jews believe in the Torah of Moses and form on earth and in their own flesh God's kingdom of priests and the holy people. And that belief requires faithful Jews to enter a dissent at the teachings of Jesus, on the grounds that those teachings at important points contradict the Torah. Where Jesus diverges from the revelation by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, he is wrong, and Moses is right. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
8. ^ Schiffman, Lawrence H. (1993). "Meeting the Challenge: Hebrew Christians and the Jewish Community" (PDF). Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Though Hebrew Christianity claims to be a form of Judaism, it is not. It is nothing more than a disguised effort to missionize Jews and convert them to Christianity. It deceptively uses the sacred symbols of Jewish observance…as a cover to convert Jews to Christianity, a belief system antithetical to Judaism.…Hebrew Christianity is not a form of Judaism and its members, even if they are of Jewish birth, cannot be considered members of the Jewish community. Hebrew Christians are in radical conflict with the communal interests and the destiny of the Jewish people. They have crossed an unbreachable chasm by accepting another religion. Despite this separation, they continue to attempt to convert their former coreligionists.
9. Balmer, Randall Herbert (2004). "Messianic Judaism". Encyclopedia of evangelicalism (Rev. and expanded ed. ed.). Waco, TX: Baylor University Press. pp. pp. 448–449. ISBN 193279204X LCCN 20-4 – 0. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Messianic Jewish organizations, such as Jews for Jesus, often refer to their faith as fulfilled Judaism, in that they believe Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. Although Messianic Judaism claims to be Jewish, and many adherents observe Jewish holidays, most Jews regard Messianic Judaism as deceptive at best, fraudulent at worst. They charge that Messianic Judaism is actually Christianity presenting itself as Judaism. Jewish groups are particularly distressed at the aggressive evangelistic attempts on the part of Messianic Jews. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
10. ^ "Why Don't Jews Believe in Jesus?". Ask the Rabbi. Aish HaTorah. February 1, 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ Waxman, Jonathan (2006). "Messianic Jews Are Not Jews". United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian, Jew for Jesus, Messianic Jew, Fulfilled Jew. The name may have changed over the course of time, but all of the names reflect the same phenomenon: one who asserts that s/he is straddling the theological fence between Judaism and Christianity, but in truth is firmly on the Christian side.…we must affirm as did the Israeli Supreme Court in the well-known Brother Daniel case that to adopt Christianity is to have crossed the line out of the Jewish community.
12. ^ "Missionary Impossible". Hebrew Union College. August 9, 1999. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Missionary Impossible, an imaginative video and curriculum guide for teachers, educators, and rabbis to teach Jewish youth how to recognize and respond to "Jews-for-Jesus," "Messianic Jews," and other Christian proselytizers, has been produced by six rabbinic students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Cincinnati School. The students created the video as a tool for teaching why Jewish college and high school youth and Jews in intermarried couples are primary targets of Christian missionaries. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Lotker, Michael (2004). "It's More About What is the Messiah than Who is the Messiah". A Christian’s guide to Judaism. New York, NY: Paulist Press. pp. pg. 35. ISBN 0809142325. LCCN 20-3. It should now be clear to you why Jews have such a problem with 'Jews for Jesus' or other presentations of Messianic Judaism. I have no difficulty with Christianity. I even accept those Christians who would want me to convert to Christianity so long as they don't use coercion or duplicity and are willing to listen in good faith to my reasons for being Jewish. I do have a major problem with those Christians who would try to mislead me and other Jews into believing that one can be both Jewish and Christian. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
14. ^ Harries, Richard (2003). "Should Christians Try to Convert Jews?". After the evil: Christianity and Judaism in the shadow of the Holocaust. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. pg. 119. ISBN 0199263132. LCCN 20-3. Thirdly, there is Jews for Jesus or, more generally, Messianic Judaism. This is a movement of people often of Jewish background who have come to believe Jesus is the expected Jewish messiah.…They often have congregations independent of other churches and specifically target Jews for conversion to their form of Christianity. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
15. ^ Berman, Daphna (June 10, 2006). "Aliyah with a cat, a dog and Jesus". Haaretz. Retrieved 2007-02-20. In rejecting their petition, Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon cited their belief in Jesus. 'In the last two thousand years of history…the Jewish people have decided that messianic Jews do not belong to the Jewish nation…and have no right to force themselves on it,' he wrote, concluding that 'those who believe in Jesus, are, in fact Christians.' The state's position is backed by all streams of normative Judaism, none of which recognizes messianic Jews as Jews. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. ^ Schoeman, Roy H. (2003). Salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22): the role of Judaism in salvation history from Abraham to the Second Coming. San Francisco, California: Ignatius Press. ISBN 089870975X. LCCN 20-3. By the mid 1970s, Time magazine placed the number of Messianic Jews in the U.S. at over 50,000; by 1993 this number had grown to 160,000 in the U.S. and about 350,000 worldwide (1989 estimate). ... There are currently over 400 Messianic synagogues worldwide, with at least 150 in the U.S.
17. ^ "Messianics.com". Messianics.com. 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-15. Find the best Torah Observant Messianic Judaism sites here at Messianics.com
18. "MessianicLife.com". Perfect Word Ministries. 2004. Retrieved 2007-02-15. As believers in the Messiah Yeshua, we are called to live a life of practical application as ordered by the Spirit. MessianicLife.com is designed to help Messianic believers have a closer walk with Yeshua, to aid Messianic families in living out the fullness of the abundant life promised in Messiah, and to exhort all of us to pass that fulfilled life on to the next generation.
19. Rausch, David A. (September 15-22). "The Messianic Jewish Congregational Movement". The Christian Century. p. 926. Retrieved 2007-02-19. As I interviewed their leaders across the United States, I found a prevalent belief that they had coined the term "Messianic Judaism." Others thought that the term had originated within the past ten or 20 years. Most of their opponents also agreed that this was so. In fact, both the term "Messianic Judaism" and the frustration with the movement go back to the 19th century. During 1895 Our Hope magazine, which became a bulwark in the fundamentalist-evangelical movement under the editorship of Arno C. Gaebelein, carried the subtitle "A Monthly Devoted to the Study of Prophecy and to Messianic Judaism." {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Davis, Richard A. "CHRISTMAS". SeedofAbraham.net. Retrieved 2007-02-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
21. Parkes, James W. (1974) . "A Profession Of Faith From The Church Of Constantinople in the year 325 C. E.(A. D.) Under The Emperor Constantine". The conflict of the church and the synagogue: a study of the origins of antisemitism (Reprint of the 1934 ed. published by the Soncino Press, London ed.). New York, NY: Hermon Press. pp. 397–398. LCCN 74-0 – 0. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
22. Maoz, Baruch. Judaism is Not Jewish: A Friendly Critique of the Messianic Movement. Christian Focus Publications. 2003. ISBN 1857927877
23. Sedaca, David. "The Rebirth of Messianic Judaism". International Messianic Jewish Alliance. Retrieved 2007-02-15. Messianic Judaism of today is the latest expression of a process that is over one hundred years old. The resurgence of this movement can be traced to Great Britain around the year 1850. At that time, there were thousands of Jewish people who converted to Christianity, but the end result of most of these conversions was the losing of their Jewish identity. By the middle of the 19th century, there were many outstanding Jewish believers in Jesus who began questioning the then prevailing principle that the corollary of accepting Jesus was the forfeiture of one's Jewish heritage. Contacts in England between these Jewish believers ultimately led to the formation in 1813 of the first body of believers who recognized both their Jewish ancestry and their faith in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. The name of this association was "Beni Abraham" Children of Abraham.
24. Winer, Robert I. (1990). The calling: the history of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, 1915-1990. Wynnewood, Pa: Messianic Jewish Alliance of America. pp. ??. ISBN 0962824305. LCCN 90-0 – 0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
25. David A. Rausch, Messianic Judaism: Its History, Theology, and Polity pages?
26. ^ "So, What Exactly is a Messianic Congregation?". RabbiYeshua.com. Kehilat Sar Shalom. 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-20. When we begin to study and observe Torah to become like Messiah, there are pitfalls we must avoid. One such pitfall is the study of Mishnah and Talmud (Rabbinic traditional Law). There are many people and congregations that place a great emphasis on rabbinic legal works, such as the Mishnah and the Talmud in search of their Hebrew roots. People are looking to the rabbis for answers on how to keep God's commands, but if one looks into the Mishnah and does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the Messiah. Or, if one looks into the Talmud and does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the Messiah – he or she is a follower of the rabbis because Rabbi Yeshua, the Messiah, is not quoted there.…Rabbinic Judaism is not Messianic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism is not founded in Messiah. Rabbinic Judaism, for the most part, is founded in the yeast – the teachings of the Pharisees. Yeshua's teachings and the discipleship that He brought His students through was not Rabbinic Judaism. There is a real danger in Rabbinics. There is a real danger in Mishnah and Talmud. No one involved in Rabbinics has ever come out on the other side more righteous than when he or she entered. He or she may look "holier than thou" – but they do not have the life changing experience clearly represented in the lives of the believers of the Messianic communities of the first century.
27. Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 28:19-20, 1 John 3:4, Romans 3:3
28. Lancaster and Berkowitz
29. Simmons, Shraga. "Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus". Aish HaTorah. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
30. Opposition to Messianic Judaism from the Jewish community by Robinson, B. (Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance)
31. Fackenheim, Emil (1987). What is Judaism? An Interpretation for the Present Age. Summit Books. pp. p.249. ISBN 0-671-46243-1. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
32. 1998 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. MISSIONARIES AND MESSIANIC CHURCHES
33. " We are not "Jews for Jesus". We strongly agree with their work of bringing non-Messianic Jews to acceptance of Yeshua(Jesus), as the Jewish Messiah. However, we just as strongly disagree with the belief/policy of "Jews for Jesus"; upon acceptance of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), Jews (and Gentiles), are not to obey and follow the Torah(Law)! This contradicts and violates the Tanakh and Messianic Scriptures that speak of Yeshua(Jesus). We believe the Torah speaks of Yeshua (Jesus) and those that love Him keep His commandments." 5twenty8.com. "Statement of Belief". 5twenty8.com. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
34. "I consider Jews For Jesus a Christian organization. Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews For Jesus, is a Christian missionary, schooled in a standard bible college and not trained as a rabbi. The Jews For Jesus organization has worked diligently teaching Jesus to the non-believing Jewish people, but it is Christianity being taught and not Messianic Judaism (in spite of JFJ efforts to make the two terms synonymous). I would like to see evangelism to the Jewish people which includes teaching Torah observance." Ellen Kavanaugh. lightofmashiach.org. "Actually, We Are NOT Jews for Jesus". lightofmashiach.org. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
35. "We are NOT "Jews for Jesus"! "Jews for Jesus" is a primarily Baptist missionary group whose sole focus is converting Jews to Christianity. They are not a part of the Messianic movement and have never been in favor of Messianic congregations! We do not approve of their theology, their ideology, or their methods." Rabbi Adam J. Bernay. Beit Tefillah Messianic Fellowship. Fresno, CA. "About Us". beit-tefillah.com. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
36. "If you were hoping this article would provide the answer, you will be disappointed. When the question is "How do we work out our Jewish identity?" the answer can only be: "It's personal! Go work it out with the L-rd." Maybe that sounds vague and non-committal, but in this we are committed to vagueness, for these are things we believe the Scripture leaves to each believer's discretion." Mitch Glaser. Jews for Jesus. "Lifestyles of the Messianic". jewsforjesus.org. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
37. "About Christmas, Easter, and Paganism". jewsforjesus.org. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
38. "Christmas is still a Jewish holiday". jewsforjesus.org. Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
39. "Article: Was Yeshua a Pharisee?". HebrewYeshua.com. Retrieved 2007-02-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)
40. "Article: Why Nehemia Gordon is wrong about Matthew 23:3" (PDF). Torahresource.com. Retrieved 2007-02-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help)

• Messianic Judaism
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2007
• Subcultures of religious movements