Messianic Jews

Dear Tanta Golda,

I’ve heard the term “messicanic Jew” tossed around before, but I’ve been too shy to ask what this term means. Are they Jews for Jesus, or is this something different? Can you believe in that a messiah has come and still be Jewish?
Ambiguously Perplexed

Ambiguous,

Oy, when Tanta Golda looked into this whole mishegoss (crazy, senseless behavior) well could she understand your perplexed state! After going to several sources it would seem that even within the “messianic” community there is controversy and disagreement - which does make them sound a bit Jewish, but I digress. Let me try to give you the main points.

Of course my darling I need to give you a little history first. In the early years of Christianity, one had to be, or become, Jewish - including circumcision - before one could become a follower of Christ. Saul/Paul pushed hard to end this, and by 150 CE this practice had all but died out.

The current messianic Judaism had it’s origins in the Hebrew Christian missions to the Jews in the 19^th century. It saw a revival and rapid growth beginning in the mid 1970’s- early ‘80s, which brings us to today.

Messianic Jews try to straddle the line between Judaism and Christianity. Congregations are made up of both Jews and gentiles. Neither needs to ‘convert’ to the other side. Their spiritual leaders are called rabbis, and their houses of worship synagogues. They believe that Jews are the “chosen people”. They use much of the traditional Jewish liturgy in their services, which are often conducted in Hebrew. They observe Shabbat, celebrate seven key holidays: Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, and Purim, and follow the explicit laws of the Torah - including circumcision and kashrut, ergo, no pork or shellfish. 

This my confused one is where the similarities to Judaism end.

They also strongly believe that Jesus - whom they call Yeshuva - was the messiah as predicted since the time of Moses. He is the word of G-d revealed to man in the flesh, born of a virgin. Yeshuva died for ‘our’ sins, and both Jews and gentiles must be cleansed of sin by the shedding of his blood. They believe that salvation comes from a good and ‘right’ relationship with G-d which can only be achieved through faith - not works of the Law. (To clarify, most Jews hold that it is our actions first and foremost that put us in G-d’s favor, though many contend that this is only possibly with faith. However, everyone is welcome in the world to come. <There are some exemptions, but that’s for another column!>) They include the New Testament in their canon, and most do not accept rabbinic law, which includes everything laid out and explained in the Mishnah and the Talmud. These texts provide the guidelines around which much of the way we practice Judaism today is framed.

Christians sometimes see this group as being part of the evangelical movement; some are critical for its aggressive proselytizing, and other see messianics as Christians misrepresenting themselves as Jews. Within the messianic movement there are those who prefer to call themselves Nazarene (named for Jesus’ presumed birthplace), and identify themselves as a sect of the Hebrew people that understand that Jesus is the prophesied redeemer of the people. Some call Jews for Jesus a branch of messianic Judaism. Tanta Golda must admit that she wasn’t able to pick up on the nuanced differences between these branches or sects.

As for your final question about remaining Jewish and believing that a messiah has already come. Judaism holds that one who is born Jewish never ceases to be a Jew, even if he or she renounces Judaism and practices another faith. Mothers are always hopeful that their children will return.

I hope I’ve cleared up some of the ambiguity for you my shy one. Best wishes for a happy New Year! TG