Messianic Judaism

Pre-19th century

Efforts by Jewish Christians to proselytize to Jews began in the 1st century, when Paul the Apostle preached at the synagogues in each city that he visited.^[29] However, by the 4th century CE, non-biblical accounts of missions to the Jews^[b] do not mention converted Jews playing any leading role in proselytization.^[30] Notable converts from Judaism who attempted to convert other Jews are more visible in historical sources beginning around the 13th century, when Jewish convert Pablo Christiani attempted to convert other Jews. This activity, however, typically lacked any independent Jewish-Christian congregations, and was often imposed through force by organized Christian churches.^[31]

19th and early 20th centuries

In the 19th century, some groups attempted to create congregations and societies of Jewish converts to Christianity, though most of these early organizations were short-lived.^[32] Early formal organizations run by converted Jews include: the Anglican London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews of Joseph Frey (1809),^[33] which published the first Yiddish New Testament in 1821;^{[34][verification needed]} the "Beni Abraham" association, established by Frey in 1813 with a group of 41 Jewish Christians who started meeting at Jews' Chapel, London for prayers Friday night and Sunday morning;^[35] and the London Hebrew Christian Alliance of Great Britain founded by Dr. Carl Schwartz in 1866.^[36]

The September 1813 meeting of Frey's "Beni Abraham" congregation at the rented "Jews' Chapel" in Spitalfields is sometimes pointed to as the birth of the semi-autonomous Hebrew Christian movement within Anglican and other established churches in Britain.^[37] However, the minister of the chapel at Spitalfields evicted Frey and his congregation three years later, and Frey severed his connections with the society.^[38] A new location was found and the Episcopal Jew's Chapel Abrahamic Society registered in 1835.^[39]

In Eastern Europe, Joseph Rabinowitz established a Hebrew Christian mission and congregation called "Israelites of the New Covenant" in Kishinev, Bessarabia, in 1884.^[40][41][42] In 1865, Rabinowitz created a sample order of worship for Sabbath morning service based on a mixture of Jewish and Christian elements. Mark John Levy pressed the Church of England to allow members to embrace Jewish customs.^[41]

In the United States, a congregation of Jewish converts to Christianity was established in New York City in 1885.^[43] In the 1890s, immigrant Jewish converts to Christianity worshipped at the Methodist "Hope of Israel" mission on New York's Lower East Side while retaining some Jewish rites and customs.^[44] In 1895, the 9th edition of Hope of Israel's Our Hope magazine carried the subtitle "A Monthly Devoted to the Study of Prophecy and to Messianic Judaism", the first use of the term "Messianic Judaism".^[45][46] In 1894, Christian missionary Leopold Cohn, a convert from Judaism, founded the Brownsville Mission to the Jews in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York as a Christian mission to Jews. After several changes in name, structure, and focus, the organization is now called Chosen People Ministries.^[47]

In the early 1900s there was a community of Messianic Jews in South Africa representing themselves as "Christian Jews" whose goal was to create a "true and genuine Christ-loving Jewish Christian Synogogue".^[48]

Missions to the Jews saw a period of growth between the 1920s and the 1960s.^[6][49] In the 1940s and 1950s, missionaries in Israel, including the Southern Baptists, adopted the term meshichyim (משיחיים, "messianics") to counter negative connotations of the word notsrim (נוצרים, "Christians"). The term was used to designate all Jews who had converted to Protestant Evangelical Christianity.^[19]

Modern-day Messianic Judaism movement, 1960s onwards

The Messianic Jewish movement emerged in the United States in the 1960s.^[18][50] Prior to this time, Jewish converts assimilated into gentile Christianity, as the church required abandoning their Jewishness and assuming gentile ways to receive baptism. Peter Hocken postulates that the Jesus movement which swept the nation in the 1960s triggered a change from Hebrew Christians to Messianic Jews, and was a distinctly charismatic movement. These Jews wanted to "stay Jewish while believing in Jesus". This impulse was amplified by the results of the Six-Day War and the restoration of Jerusalem to Jewish control.^[51][52][53]

The Trinity

Many Messianic Jews affirm the doctrine of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as three representations of the same divinity.^[21][68][69]

1. God the Father: Messianic Jews believe in God, and that he is all-powerful, omnipresent, eternally existent outside of creation, and infinitely significant and benevolent. Some Messianic Jews affirm both the Shema and the Trinity, understanding the phrase "the LORD is One" to be referring to "a differentiated but singular deity",^[70] and "eternally existent in plural oneness".^[68]
2. God the Son: Most Messianic Jews consider Jesus to be the Messiah and divine as God the Son, in line with mainstream Christianity,^[21][68] and will even pray directly to him.^[71] Many also consider Jesus to be their "chief teacher and rabbi" whose life should be copied.^[72]
3. God the Holy Spirit: According to some Messianic Jews, the Spirit is introduced in the Old Testament, is the inspirer of prophets, and is the spirit of truth described in the New Testament.^[68]

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

1. God the Father: Some Messianic Jews profess only a strict view of monotheism, rejecting Trinitarian doctrine^[73] and Arian doctrine.
2. Jesus the Son of God: Some Messianic Jews, who reject Trinitarian doctrine and Arian doctrine, believe that the Jewish Messiah is the son of God in the general sense (Jewish people are children of God) and that the Jewish Messiah is a mere human, the promised Prophet. Some Messianic Jews believe Jewish Messiah is the pre-existent Word of God, the mighty God, and the only begotten God. Some congregations do not directly ascribe divinity to Jesus, considering him a man, yet not just a man, fathered by the Holy Spirit, who became the Messiah.^[74] Even others consider him "Word made flesh" and the "human expression of Divinity".^[75]
3. The Holy Spirit (Hebrew: רוח הקודש, ruach ha-kodesh) refers to the divine force, or to the word or spirit of God.^[76]

Scriptures and writings

Messianic publications

This section does not cite any sources. (December 2024)

David H. Stern has released a one-volume Jewish New Testament Commentary, providing explanatory notes from a Messianic Jewish point of view. Other New Testament commentary authors include Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries, who has written commentaries on the Epistles, Judges and Ruth, Genesis, and 7 systematic doctrinal studies.

Sin and atonement

Some Messianic believers define sin as transgression of the Law of God and include the concept of original sin. Some adherents atone for their sins through prayer and repentance – the acknowledgment of the wrongdoing and seeking forgiveness for their sins (especially on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement). Disagreeing with these rites and practices, other Messianics hold to a belief that all sin (whether committed yet or not) is already atoned for because of Jesus's death and resurrection.^[85]

Evangelism and attitudes toward Jews and Israel

Messianic Jews believe God's people have a responsibility to spread his name and fame to all nations. It is believed that the Children of Israel were, remain, and will continue to be the chosen people of the God, and are central to his plans for existence. Most Messianic believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, can be said to oppose supersessionism (popularly referred to as replacement theology), the view that the Church has replaced Israel in the mind and plans of God.^[69]

According to certain branches of Messianic Judaism, Jews are individuals who have one or more Jewish parents, or who have undergone halakhic conversion to Judaism.^{[86][87][non-primary source needed]}

Eschatology

All Messianic Jews hold to certain eschatological beliefs such as the End of Days, the Second Coming of Jesus as the conquering Messiah, the re-gathering of Israel, a rebuilt Third Temple, a resurrection of the dead, and many believe in the Millennial Sabbath, although some are Amillenialist. Some Messianic Jews believe that all of the Jewish holidays, and 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 their larger prophetic context. To certain believers, the feasts of Pesach and Shavuot were fulfilled in Jesus's first coming, and Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot will be at his second. Some also believe in a literal 7000-year period for the human history of the world, with a Millennial Messianic kingdom prior to a final judgment.^[94]

Torah observance

There is a variety of practice within Messianic Judaism regarding the strictness of Torah observance. Generally, Torah observant congregations observe Jewish prayers, biblical feasts, and the Sabbath.^[90] While most traditional Christians deny that the ritual laws and specific civil laws of the Torah apply to gentiles, some Messianic believers say certain passages regarding Torah observance in the New Testament are cited by as proof that the Torah was not abolished for Jews. They say that in Acts 21:17–36, Jewish believers in Jerusalem are described as "zealous for the Law".

Sabbath and holiday observances

Some Messianic Jews observe Shabbat on Saturdays.^[24] Worship services are generally held on Friday evenings (Erev Shabbat) or Saturday mornings.^[81] According to the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship (SBMF), services are held on Saturday to "open the doors to Jewish people who also wish to keep the Sabbath".^[95] The liturgy used is similar to that of a Jewish siddur with some important differences including the omission of "salvation by works" as the Messianic belief is salvation through Jesus.^[95] Other branches of the movement have attempted to "eliminate the elements of Christian worship [such as frequent communion^[d]] that cannot be directly linked to their Jewish roots".^[96] Almost all such congregations in Israel observe Jewish holidays, which they understand to have their fulfillment in Jesus."^[24]

The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council recommends the observance of Jewish holidays.^[97] Most larger Messianic Jewish congregations follow Jewish custom in celebrating the three biblical feasts (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot), as well as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.^[81]

Dietary laws

The observance of the kashrut dietary laws is a subject of continued debate among Messianic Jews.^[98][99] Some Messianic believers keep kosher purely for the purposes of evangelism to Jewish people.^[98] Most avoid pork and shellfish, but there is disagreement on more strict adherence to kosher dietary laws.

Conversion to Messianic Judaism

Large numbers of those calling themselves Messianic Jews are not of Jewish descent,^[100] but join the movement as they "enjoy the Messianic Jewish style of worship".^[101] Messianic perspectives on "Who is a Jew?" vary. The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council says a Jew is one born to a Jewish mother or who has converted to Judaism. Copying from the Reform stream of Judaism, the council also says a Jew is one who was born to a Jewish father but not a Jewish mother on the condition that the family of the child, or the individual as an adult, has undertaken public and formal acts of identification of the individual with the Jewish faith and people.^[86] The MJAA accepts gentiles into their congregations, but views gentiles and Jews as spiritually distinct and conversion as an "unbiblical practice".^[102]

Use of Hebrew names and vocabulary in English

The movement generally avoids common Christian terms, such as Jesus, Christ, or cross and prefers to use Hebrew or Aramaic terms.^[105]

Music

Messianic Jewish hymns differ from evangelical Christian ones in their focus on Israel's role in history and messianic hope. Other differences include reference to Jesus—usually using the name Yeshua—as the "Savior of Israel". Messianic hymnals often incorporate Israeli songs.^[22] The movement has several recording artists who consider their music to be Messianic in message, such as Joel Chernoff of the duo Lamb,^[106] Ted Pearce,^[107] and Chuck King.^[108]

Among mainstream Christianity

In the United States, the emergence of the Messianic Jewish movement created some stresses with other Jewish-Christian and missionary organization. In 1975, the Fellowship of Christian Testimonies to the Jews condemned several aspects^[which?] of the Messianic Jewish movement.^[109]

In Israel, the linguistic distinction between Messianic Jews and mainstream Christians is less clear, and the name meshihiy (משיחי, 'messianic') is commonly used by churches in lieu of notsri (נוצרי, 'Christian'). The Israel Trust of the Anglican Church, based at Christ Church, Jerusalem, an organization that is ecumenical in outlook and operates an interfaith school in Jerusalem, gives some social support to Messianic Jews in Israel.^[110]

Among Jews

As in traditional Jewish objections to Christian theology, opponents of Messianic Judaism hold that Christian proof texts, such as prophecies in the Hebrew Bible purported to refer the Messiah's suffering and death, have been taken out of context and misinterpreted.^[111] Jewish theology rejects the idea that the Messiah, or any human being, is a divinity. Belief in the Trinity is considered idolatrous by most rabbinic authorities. Even if considered shituf (literally, "partnership")—an association of other individuals with the God of Israel—this is only permitted for gentiles, and that only according to some rabbinic opinions. It is universally considered idolatrous for Jews.^{[11][112][113]} Further, Judaism does not view the role of the Messiah to be the salvation of the world from its sins, an integral teaching of Christianity^[114] and Messianic Judaism.^[21]

Jewish opponents of Messianic Judaism often focus their criticism on the movement's radical ideological separation from traditional Jewish beliefs, stating that the acceptance of Jesus as Messiah creates an insuperable divide between the traditional messianic expectations of Judaism, and Christianity's theological claims.^[115] They state that while Judaism is a messianic religion, its messiah is not Jesus,^[116] and thus the term is misleading.^[12] All denominations of Judaism, as well as national Jewish organizations, reject Messianic Judaism as a form of Judaism.^[10][117] The Central Conference of American Rabbis states that ""Jewish Christians" or "Messianic Jews" have never been considered believers in Judaism."^[118] Regarding this divide, Reconstructionist Rabbi Carol Harris-Shapiro said: "To embrace the radioactive core of goyishness—Jesus—violates the final taboo of Jewishness.[...] Belief in Jesus as Messiah is not simply a heretical belief, as it may have been in the first century; it has become the equivalent to an act of ethno-cultural suicide."^[119]

B'nai Brith Canada considers Messianic activities as antisemitic incidents.^[120] Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder of the anti-missionary organization Outreach Judaism, noted of a Messianic religious leader in Toledo: "He's not running a Jewish synagogue.[...] It's a church designed to appear as if it were a synagogue and I'm there to expose him. What these irresponsible extremist Christians do is a form of consumer fraud. They blur the distinctions between Judaism and Christianity in order to lure Jewish people who would otherwise resist a straightforward message."^[121]

Association by a Jewish politician with a Messianic religious leader, inviting him to pray at a public meeting, even though made in error, resulted in nearly universal condemnation by Jewish congregations in Detroit in 2018,^[122][123] as the majority opinion in both Israeli and American Jewish circles is to consider Messianic Judaism as Christianity and its followers as Christians.^[124]

Response of Israeli government

Messianic Jews are considered eligible for the State of Israel's Law of Return only if they can also claim Jewish descent.^[25] An assistant to one of the two lawyers involved with an April 2008 Supreme Court of Israel case explained to the Jerusalem Post that Messianic Jews who are not Jewish according to Jewish rabbinic law, but who had sufficient Jewish descent to qualify under the Law of Return, could claim automatic new immigrant status and citizenship despite being Messianic.^[125] The state of Israel grants Aliyah (right of return) and citizenship to Jews, and to those with Jewish parents or grandparents who are not considered Jews according to halakha, such as people who have a Jewish father but a non-Jewish mother. The old law had excluded any "person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion", and an Israeli Supreme Court decision in 1989 had ruled that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion.^[126] However, on April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled in a case brought by a number of Messianic Jews with Jewish fathers and grandfathers. Their applications for Aliyah had been rejected on the grounds that they were Messianic Jews. The argument was made by the applicants that they had never been Jews according to halakha, and were not therefore excluded by the conversion clause. This argument was upheld in the ruling.^{[125][127][128]}

The International Religious Freedom Report 2008, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the US, stated that discrimination against Messianic Jews in Israel was increasing.^[129] Some acts of violence have also occurred; in one incident on March 20, 2008, a bomb concealed as a Purim gift basket was delivered to the house of a prominent Messianic Jewish family in Ariel, in the West Bank, which severely wounded the son.^[130] Eventually, Yaakov Teitel was arrested for the attempted murder.^[131]

This antagonism has led to harassment and some violence, especially in Israel, where there is a large and militant Orthodox community. Several Orthodox organizations, including Yad L'Achim and Lehava, are dedicated to rooting out missionary activity in Israel, including the Messianic Jewish congregations. One tactic is to plaster posters asking Israelis to boycott shops where Messianic Jews are owners or employees; another is to report Messianic Jews to the Interior ministry, which is charged with enforcing an Israeli law forbidding proselytizing.^[132] In another incident, the mayor of Or Yehuda, a suburb of Tel Aviv, held a public book-burning of literature passed out to Ethiopian immigrants. He later apologized for the action.^[133] On other occasions, Lehava activists attempted to interrupt Messianic Jewish and violently harass the participants.^[134][135]

Response of US governments

The US Navy made a decision that Messianic Jewish chaplains must wear as their insignia the Christian cross, and not the tablets of the law, the insignia of Jewish chaplains. According to Yeshiva World News, the Navy Uniform Board commanded that Michael Hiles, a candidate for chaplaincy, wear the Christian insignia. Hiles resigned from the program, rather than wear the cross.^[136] Eric Tokajer, a spokesman for the Messianic Jewish movement, responded that "This decision essentially bars Messianic Jews from serving as chaplains within the U.S. Navy because it would require them to wear an insignia inconsistent with their faith and belief system."^[137]

A Birmingham, Alabama, police employee's religious discrimination case was settled in her favor after she filed suit over having to work on the Jewish Sabbath.^[138]