Messianic Jews: An Apologetic Approach

Steffan Blanco 11/19/2014

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Messianic Jews: A Apologetic Approach

What is Messianic Judaism? Is it more than a “perplexing mixture of Judaism and

Christianity”1? Historians, traditional, modernist and Messianic Jews still argue about its

definition, ranging from a Christian offshoot movement to a Jewish expression of Judaism2.

Modernist Jews (especially the Orthodox) and the State of Israel, to a certain extent3, reject

Messianic Jews as Jews claiming that they are apostates and Christians4. Yet Messianic Jews

argue their belief in Yeshua (Jesus) makes them complete and “fulfilled Jews”5 and does not

affect or make them reject their Jewish heritage. The question they all try to define is “Who is a

Jew?” Regardless of Jewish opposition, Messianic Judaism should be considered another

expression of Judaism because of its Jewishness (both biological/physical and spiritual

identification), its adherence to Jewish festivals and the Tanakh, and the acceptance of Yeshua as

the Messiah. Although first a Christian crusade to reach the Jews with the gospel, Messianic

Judaism has develop to be able to stand on its own. Because of these, Messianic Jews should be

considered Jews.

There are at least two obstacles when talking about Messianic Judaism. First, it is a

complex movement6 from the 1960s and second, it is not homogenous. Also, my sources neither

1 Francine Samuelson. "Messianic Judaism: Church, denomination, sect, or cult?." Journal of Ecumenical

Studies 37, no. 2 (2000): 162. http://connection.ebscohost.com/

2 Pauline Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 3, no. 2 (2004), 196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1472588042000225857

3 In 1989, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that Messianic Jews belong to another religion and were not entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. (AP. "Israeli Court Rules Jews for Jesus Cannot Automatically Be Citizens." The New York Times, December 27, 1989, sec. Archives). In 2008, however, that decision was revoked by the same court (Izenberg, Dan. "Court applies Law of Return to Messianic Jews because of fathers ." the Jerusalem post, November 22, 2010)

4 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 195 5 Ibid. 197 6 Many Messianic Jews and some scholars argue that it started in the first century AD and even before

1960s.

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expand about Messianic Jews during the first century AD nor before 1960s, only mentioning that

some converted Jews decided to stay true to their identity.

Messianic Jews7 today identified themselves with the first century AD “Nazarenes”,

Torah-oriented, Yeshua-believing Jews who embraced their Jewishness (identity and communal

life) “as a matter of covenant responsibility” and not just ethnical8. Today there are more than

400 Messianic synagogues, with most in the U.S. and Israel, and followers numbered around

200,000. Messianic Jews claim their belief is an expression of Judaism, a restoration of the

Nazarenes’ Judaism and a completion of Judaism because of their acceptance of Yeshua Ha

Mashiach. Mostly, Messianic Jews fulfill the parentage requirement by either the Halakhah

(matrilineal) or the Torah (patrilineal) or both, with some being converted. Most congregations

are composed of Jews (both by birth and converted) and non-Jews (gentiles), with the latter

forming many times the majority of it9. Scholars who are Non-Messianic Jews argue that “a

fundamentalism pervades these groups”10, and include Christian’s doctrines but express them in

a Jewish way. Also, that Judaism serves as an ethnical identification (for closeness to other Jews)

while borrowing from Christianity averts exclusivity and over-legalism11 (for closeness to

Christians). This is important, for many Messianic Jews see themselves as a bridge and

reconciliation too between the two religions. Although their Christology, theology and liturgies

7 For the purpose of this paper, the category Messianic Jews refers to Jews by birth or converted, while

Messianic Christians would be used for Christians who form part of their congregations. 8 David Rudolph. “Messianic Jews and Christian Theology.” Pro Ecclesia XIV, no. 1 (2005), 1

http://www.academia.edu/1622530/ 9 Hillary Kaell. "Born-again seeking: explaining the gentile majority in messianic Judaism." Religion 10

(2014), 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2014.949899 10 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 196 11 Simon Coleman , review of Passing over Easter: Constructing the Boundaries of Messianic Judaism by

Shoshanah Feher. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 5, no. 3 (1999), 489-90

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vary in the religious spectrum Hebrew Christian/Messianic Jew, they are united in their

acceptance of Yeshua as the Messiah.

Background

According to Kollontai, important scholars such as Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Carol Harris-

Shapiro, and Shoshanah Feher (all Jews) agree that the root of Messianic Judaism can be traced

to the early nineteenth century British movement called Hebrew Christianity12. It is also

important to notice that, of all three, Dan Cohn-Sherbok is the only one that argues for the

inclusion of Messianic Judaism as an expression of the Jewish faith, thus displaying the recent

Jewish community (and other Jewish scholars) acceptance of it. The other two scholars argue is a

bridge of the two religions13. For a better understanding of this, I will give a brief description of

the history of Messianic Judaism.

Coupled with the Jewish emancipation, a different attitude toward Jews emerged during

the early 19th century when fascination with the Hebrew language and Old and New Testaments

Jews gave rise to Pre-millennialism and Dispensationalism. The latter divided history into

dispensations (God’s relation with humankind), allowed for converted Jews to remain Jews and

saw them as paramount to the advent of the Messiah14. Despite Anti-Semitism, many Pre-

millennialists where against it, supported a Jewish migration to the Holy Land and stood for

Jewish rights15. Throughout the century these beliefs later expanded all over Europe and the

U.S., with several alliances and missions focusing on converting Jews following suit, such as the

12 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 195 13 Ibid., 196 14 Gabriela M. Reason. “Competing Trends In Messianic Judaism: The Debate Over Evangelicalism.”

Kesher, no. 18 (2002), 7 15 Timothy Weber. "A Reply to David Rausch "Fundamentalism and the Jews"" JETS 24, no. 1 (1981). 67.

http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/24/24-1/24-1-pp067-071_JETS.pdf

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Hebrew Christian Alliance in 1866 and the International Hebrew Christian Alliance in 1925.

However the Hebrew Christians because of the pogroms throughout Europe and fear to look as

“Judaizers”, were part of Christian churches rather than forming a synagogue. Many were

Christians who were not afraid of their Jewish background but neither celebrated Jewish festivals

nor rituals16 and view their Jewishness as ethnicity. Messianic Jews, however, remained adamant

to their customs and tried to form their own congregation.

By the end of the century, together with Zionism, Fundamentalism and the Third Great

Awakening, these beliefs blossomed in the U.S. where, in the form of Dispensational Pre-

millennialism, more missions and alliances sprung such as the American Board of Missions to

the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America (HCAA) in 1915. The common goals

were to strengthen Hebrew Christians faith, propagate the Gospel, help the missions and give

churches information on how to best help with Jewish evangelism17. They never, however,

lacked criticism and inside voices called for Jews, not Christians, to evangelize other Jews.

These alliances also served as discussion hubs for central topics regarding their faith, but

remained mostly anti-Messianic Jewish until the 1960s. American Hebrew Christians were

influenced by Fundamentalism, a belief that rejected theological modernism and subjective

claims about the biblical doctrines18, and called for integration of Jewish liturgies. However,

most were rejected by the alliances and although there were some congregations, they remained

Christian for the most part.

In the 1960s and 1970s, with the emergence of the Jesus and Civil Rights movements,

and the Six-Day war, many Hebrew Christians and Jews started to change their identity attitude

16 Samuelson. "Messianic Judaism: Church, denomination, sect, or cult?." 163 17 Reason. “Competing Trends In Messianic Judaism”. 7 18 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 8th ed., s.v. "Christian Fundamentalism" Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica,

2014.

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and mindset, and the Messianic movement achieved independence and revitalization with a

young generation19. Although some fundamentalism remained, paramount changes took place:

Moishe Rosen founded Jews for Jesus, the HCAA changed its name to the Messianic Jewish

Alliance of America (MJAA), the First Hebrew Christian Church was now Ada Ha Tikvah with

many other congregations following suit20, and the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregation

(UMJC) was created. These congregations, separate from missions and denominations,

organizations and figures such as David Stern and James Hutchens were the center of preaching

Jews about Yeshua as the Messiah and still be able to remain Jew. They all reflected the

“ideological and theological changes taking place in the movement”, causing a brake between

those who wanted to express their faith in a more Jewish way and those who decided to remain

Hebrew Christians21. Even today, Messianic Jews continue to redefine their own identity (and

name) within Judaism and Christianity. Looking back 30-40 years from now, the movement has

greatly expanded to include conferences, retreats, books, hymnals, websites, periodicals and

many more organizations. But also, questions have remained: What to do with Gentiles? How do

we keep our identity and rituals? Just as the movement is heterogeneous, so are the answers.

Internal and External Perception

Reaction to this movement came, and still comes, from both sides but the Jewish

community was the most reactionary. For one, many did not buy into their belief, calling it

bizarre, aberrant and a fraud22. Anti-missionary organizations were created such as Jews for

19 Samuelson. "Messianic Judaism: Church, denomination, sect, or cult?." 164 20 Ibid. 21 Reason. “Competing Trends In Messianic Judaism”. 10 22 Yaakov Ariel. “A different kind of dialogue? Messianic Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations.” Cross

Currents 62, no. 3 (2012), 321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-3881.2012.00243.x

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Judaism and Yad L’Achim (in Israel) to combat their propaganda and inform their youth on how

to counterattack their arguments. They even lobby secular Israeli authorities to prohibit aliyah

and deny citizenship to them. Liberal Protestants, because of Messianic Jews’ adherence to the

Torah, looked on them less favorable than the conservatives. Also, they and Jews saw them (and

still do) as hindering in Jewish-Christian discussions because for many there is no reconciliation

and because of the Jews’ negative perspective of evangelism and concern with continuity.

Recently, scholars, media, and some Jews have change their view upon them, as observable in

newspapers treating them “respectfully and present[ing] their case in a surprisingly impartial

tone”23. Nevertheless, there is still rejection. To give one example: In 2013, while working for

the Negev Tourism Office, one Orthodox Jewish woman once told Chaim Goldberg (a Messianic

Jew journalist from Charisma News) when he asked her opinion on Messianic Jews: “Chaim,”

she said, “some Israelis hate the religious. Some hate the secular. But everyone hates you.”24

Although it may seem biased, there are several testimonies that support her statement25.

Messianic Jews background ranges from very strict Jewish upbringing to liberal to only

adherence of “Jewish ethnicity through social and cultural pursuits”26. The majority display

charismatic inclinations, believe in the gifts of the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) and that they

must keep a Torah-oriented life. Opinions vary on how much of the Torah they apply to their

lifestyle but all agree is not evil, it is continuous and important for their identity as Jews27. For

23 Ibid., 322 24 Goldberg, Chaim, and Maoz Israel. "Messianic Jews: 'The Most Hated People on Earth'." Charisma

News (Lake Mary), May 3, 2013, sec. World. http://www.charismanews.com/world/39344-messianic-jews-the-most-hated-people-on-earth

25 For more on this look for: http://www.messiahofisraelministries.org/Testimony.html http://shoebat.com/2013/12/28/israeli-government-tells-idf-interact-messianic-jews/ http://roshpinaproject.com/2011/02/23/hate-fest-against-messianic-jews-in-ashdod/

26 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 197 27 Samuelson. "Messianic Judaism: Church, denomination, sect, or cult?.". 168

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many Jews, this is unacceptable because they have crossed the established religious boundaries

and taken an active role in the development of their identity. Although their spiritual dimension

is a mix from both Judaism and Christianity, their ethnic dimension is Jewish. According to

Kollanti and Gabriela Reason scholars such as Harris-Shapiro argue they are a bridge between

both religions, their identity is not pure and their complexity weakens their beliefs28. Others such

as Shoshanah Feher and Cohn-Sherbok argue it is a harmonious mix and that it is another form

of Judaism, respectively. They also debate their Jewishness, but opponents run into trouble with

their own definitions. If we regard a Jew as Torah observant, identified and committed to the

Jewish people and non-religious practices, and supportive of the State of Israel (whether moral,

political or financial) then the Messianic Jews are “more Jewish than many normative Jews”29.

Messianic Jews also embrace many Jewish symbols and cultural elements. They are

usually Zionist, supporting the State of Israel and identifying as part of it, and some even do

aliyah to Israel. The congregations’ creedal document asserts these beliefs, that they are God’s

chosen people and their importance in the End Times30. They believe one day God will gather its

people and bring the Messiah again. Also, they hold some Christian principles about salvation

through Yeshua, the Tri-unity, redemption and judgment. Like most Jews they keep the Sabbath

and kosher food laws, practice the festivals and life-cycle events (circumcision, bat/bar mitzvah,

marriage, etc) in varying degrees of observance but in term of the Messiah31. They interpret the

holidays in light of Yeshua such as the Passover lamb represents his sacrifice, the bread his body

and the wine his blood. Events such as the bar/bat mitzvah, baptism, marriage and funerals,

28 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 199; Reason. “Competing Trends In Messianic Judaism”, 2.

29 Kollontai. "Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity." 199 30 Gershon Nerel. "The Identity of Jewish Yeshua-Disciples in the State of Israel According to Their

Written Declarations of Faith." Kesher, no. 27 (2012), 6 31 Richard Harvey. "In Search of Messianic Jewish Theology." Mishkan, no. 57 (2008): 7

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although culturally Christian, are Jewish in form (mikveh for baptism). At home they have

mezuzahs, menorahs and seder plates and some of their synagogues have Torah scrolls, cantors

and arcs of covenant. They also wear the tallit and kippah during the Sabbath and tefillin to

pray32. Most congregations use traditional Jewish siddurs (prayer books) but include prayers

about Yeshua as an expression of their faith. They consider all these (festivals, events, symbols,

liturgy) to deepen their faith and ground their identity, but not as a justification before God.

If something distinguishes them from the other branches of Judaism, is their belief in

Yeshua. But rather than uniform, their Christology is as heterogeneous and changing as their

opinions on legalism. Recently, some have argued for an “independent understanding of the

Jewish faith in Jesus”, while others for more reliance on the Scriptures and post-biblical Jewish

sources33. When the Messianic congregations and organizations’ creedal documents (statements

of faith) are examined, several commentaries can be made. Concerning their belief as he being

the Son of God and Son of Man, they borrow from “the definition of the unity of the Godhead”,

present in Maimonides’ “Thirteen Articles of Faith”34. Some recognized him as God, while

others as part of God (Tri-unity). When referring to the Trinity, most statements avoid that word

but use “persons” or “entities”. They also argue their faith is not a new religion and that the body

of Christ, to which they also belong, does not substitute the people of Israel. Moreover, it is

important to notice that their attitude toward their “label” has changed, preferring to be called

Jewish Yeshua-Disciples or Jewish disciples of Yeshua. This matter is still an ongoing debate,

even for the Messianic Christians who join Messianic Jews congregations.

32 Ariel. “A different kind of dialogue? Messianic Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations.” 322 33 Ibid., 325 34 Nerel. “The Identity of Jewish Yeshua-Disciples”, 8-9

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The matter of Yeshua is paramount to Messianic Jews because they claim their

acceptance of him as Messiah makes them complete, fulfilled. However, for non-Messianic Jews

this is unacceptable and can be seen in their name for Jesus which is Yeshu, meaning “May his

name and memory be obliterated” (Yemach Shemo Vezichro)35. Even to them, a Jew who has

rejected God and barely practice the Torah is still a Jew, while those who accept Yeshua while

still applying the Torah are not. Most biblical scholars, even Jewish ones, recognized that Jesus

was a Jew. However, when it comes to denote him as Messiah, the Jewish ones disagree because

he did not fulfill the prophecies. Messianic Jews disagree and state this view is misunderstanding

the Scriptures. Rather than causing cataclysmic events and establishing physical peace, he came

to reconcile God and man, establish peace between them and forgiveness to others36. In Yeshua’s

second coming, peace would be established. Their beliefs on Yeshua tend to borrow also from

Christianity, which some have been used by Catholics and Protestants to discredit Judaism.

Messianic Jews respond that, although used by Christians, it “does not alter the fact that they are

rooted in the Torah”37. The New Testament, in fact, is Jewish and be understood though the

Torah. This is why believing in Yeshua does not make them un-Jewish.

Conclusion

Since the Jews’ emancipation in Europe and their interaction with others, they have tried

to give meaning to their Jewishness and ponder upon the relevance of Judaism’s teachings.

Coupled with the Christians’ evangelism, some started to express their Jewishness in term of

Yeshua Ha Mashiach. After the 1960s, Messianic Judaism acquired independence and

35 Brown, Michael L. "May His Name and Memory Be Blotted Out." In The Real Kosher Jesus: Revealing the Mysteries of the Hidden Messiah. (Lake Mary, Fla.: FrontLine, 2012) 7

36 Kollontai. “Messianic Jews And Jewish Identity.” 201 37 Ibid.

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uniqueness. As it has been showed, Messianic Jews fulfill the parentage requirement, follow the

Torah festivals and rituals, and believe in a Jewish Messiah. But the question still remains

whether or not Messianic Judaism is a branch of Judaism. This should be look vis-à-vis the

Jewish community and even the Haskalah, which demonstrated that Judaism is not monolithic.

What it is also clear is that Christians and Jews can no longer avoid Messianic Jews in their

intra/inter-religious discussions. It is still unclear how Messianic Judaism will continue, whether

if it will cohere and unite ideologically or keep developing along liberal/conservative lines. But

what it is doing, we know: it continues to challenge Jews on what it means to be Jewish and

Christians on what it means to be a Christian.

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