How can I get more info on Messianic Judaism?

Question

It sounds like a faith very in tune with how I feel. I know so little about it however, like where churches are located, how to convert, things like that.

Answer 1

Hello, Rod:

They believe that Jesus is the Messiah (right), and He is coming to restore this world (wrong). That was the mistake they made 2,000 years ago.

Actually, Jesus will rescue us from this planet as it is consumed by fire, with the elements melting with fervent heat.... Earth will be restored after the Millennium.

More on this and what is really going to happen at http://abiblecode.tripod.com

Shalom, peace inJesus, Ben Yeshua

Answer 2

First off, Messianic Judaism and Jews for Jesus are two different ideals. Jews for Jesus try to convert Jews to the christian faith. Messianic Jews try to uphold their Jewish roots while believing that Jesus is the Messiah. Just as the Lubavitcher Jews think that Rebbe Menachem Schnerson is the Messiah or the Bratislov Jews think that Rebbe Nachman is the Messiah. Messianic Jews do not hold to the teachings of the church as they believe the church left the true teachings of Jesus and allowed in paganistic practices which the Torah forbids. Jesus was a Jew, he was a teacher of Torah which if you must know, most Rabbis study Talmud which is also called the Oral Torah. They do not even study Torah. If you listen to most anti-missionary groups they will tell you that Jesus did not fulfill all or any of the prophecys that the Messiah is supposed to. They will tell you the New Testament (an oxymoron) has been added to and can not be trusted. To be honest most of my people do not even know what to look for when it comes to finding the Messiah. Most Jews are never taught about the real prophecys about the Messiah. Matter of fact alot of Jewish religious organizations forbid anyone to even study the subject. If you are looking for the Messiah you must know that he will resemble Moshe (Moses) in his deeds and his life. His life will also almost mirror Moshe's. His life will also resemble Joseph as he will be rejected by his own people. They will not even recognize him because to our people he will look like the rest of the world. Read Isaiah 53. Rashi's commentary and the way modern Jewish bibles read, they use the misinterpretation of Rashi to say this is talking about all of Israel. The truth is according to the prophets the Messiah has to come in the time of the second temple or their will be no Messiah. So I say, either he was the Messiah or there will not be one. You have to study it out for yourself. The questions that people ask are oppionated at best with the answers that come. Remember the saying, "when you have two Jews in a room together, you have three oppinions". What you have to do is study the Torah, it is the only G-d breathed words we have. It has not changed due to the strict order the scribes adhere too in keeping it the same. All the letters are numbered, all the words are numbered. If there is any deviation from it, the Torah scroll is not useable and we have a funeral for it because it still has the name of G-d in it. We can not or ever desicrate His Name. What you need to do is base all teaching on the Torah that Moshe wrote down. Anything that goes against Torah is only oppinion and or misinterpretation. Anything that supports Torah and is backed up by it, is scripture. The Torah stands alone. The talmud is a good source of learning what our fathers understood. There is alot of understanding that comes from there, also on how to do certain things that the Torah does not tell us, such as how to make a mezzuzah, but remember if it does not line up with Torah it is only oppinion not scripture. Now where to get more information that is good and not polluted by those with there own oppinions. First they do not meet in churches as they believe they are not apart of the church as that is paganistic. You can go on the internet and find some that might be close by. Here are some sources you might try to look at from the web;
lionlamb.net
wisdomintorah.com
bnaiavraham.net
rabbiyeshua.com
ffoz.org
From here you might find something close to you as well as people who can answer your questions. Keep your mind open to the answers you may find, but check everything out first from the Torah then from the prophets. Shalom!

Answer 3

Messianic Judaism is a branch of Evangelical Protestant Christianity. A Jewish gloss, with a smattering of Yiddish, a tallis (prayer shawl), and the Gospels translated into Hebrew (unlike the Hebrew Bible, their original language is Greek, so this is a translation, and not the genuine article), these things do not make it Judaism.

Don't get me wrong - if you're a Christian, be happy being a Christian. But please don't confuse the issue. Be a Christian or go, be a Jew, but please don't be one and call yourself the other. To do so is really an insult to both religions.

For your consideration: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/j4jlibrary/messianicjudaism.html

Answer 4

Hi. That's a good question. I belong to a Messianic Jewish congregation in Washington DC. We are a mixed group of born Jews and Gentiles and our worship is traditionally Jewish, though not as heavily traditional as you'd find in a very Orthodox group. Among Messianic Jews you'd find a whole range of opinions and levels of observance, as you'd expect.

The earliest followers of Yeshua/Jesus were mostly Jews living side-by-side with other Jews and continuing in their Jewish tradition. They suffered periodic persecutions by their fellow Jews and one very large one during the Bar Kachba revolt in the early second century.

Gentile Christians also came to look down on Jewish Christians who continued in their Judaism not long into the formation of Christianity as a largely gentile religion. Later, gentile Christianity outlawed any vestige of Judaism from Christian observance.

Early Messianic Judaism may have died out completely by the sixth or seventh century and then made a sudden reappearance in the nineteenth century. Some of the leaders of this reappearing movement were traditional Jewish rabbis who came to read the Gospels and believe in Yeshua. Others were gentile Christians seeking to celebrate their Hebrew heritage.

Messianic Judaism in America has just begun to set root and grow though it's been here much longer. Some Christian churches are quite tolerant and even encouraging of the movement. Others aren't. However, building bonds with Christian congregations has been far easier than building bonds with other Jewish ones, who have little interest in this.

As far as the more paranoid and condescending responses you will read about Messianic Judaism, please just ignore them, and learn for yourself. The vast majority come from angry traditional Jews who do not believe in Yeshua and see any attempt at teaching about Him as a deadly threat. They will give you a grain of truth with a heap of lies and distortions on top. Just like any good conspiracy theory. You'd think that after so many years of being slandered, Jews would be the last people to slander someone else.

All in all, the best way to learn about Messianic Judaism would be to visit a community in your area. And to study and to live the faith.

Shalom

Answer 5

I've done a little research on this, and we have a very controversial group of "Messianic Jews" in our area. I would like to simplify what the first responder said:

It's like this: Jews believe the Messiah is coming.

Christians believe the Messiah has already come, just about 2000 years ago.

Messianic Jews can't make up their minds. They believe the Messiah came 2000 years ago, and has yet to come. HUH??

SUE

Answer 6

google search messianic judaism and a ton of stuff will come up. some are jews who believe Yeshua is messiah, others are christians studying hebrew roots. the studies are immense and the music is beautiful! the culture is amazing as well.

Answer 7

They are really Christians whose goal is to convert Jews. They are looked down on by real Jews. If you want information about Judaism go to a reform Jewish temple and see if they are giving classes.

Answer 8

Please be aware that we do **not** consider "Messianic Jews" to be Jewish in any way.

This is taken from the reference section of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_for_Jesus

1. “"We believe that Jewishness is a birthright. It is inherited from our parents. Our people are not of one culture; we have diverse cultural expressions (Ashkenazi/Sephardi, Georgian/Russian, Ethiopian, Persian, etc.). Our people are not of one religion. While Judaism might be the traditional religion for many Jewish people, Jews are still considered Jewish even though they might be atheists or even if they embrace other beliefs. Those who say that Jews who believe in Jesus are errant Jews or misguided Jews are entitled to their opinions. But they are not entitled to negate our Jewishness. We are Jews by birth and that cannot change."
2. "There is virtual unanimity across all denominations [of Judaism] that Jews for Jesus are not Jewish." (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, pp. 139-140).
3. "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. Jews for Jesus and other Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely rejected by the majority of Jews". (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, p. 9).
4. Jewish groups:
o "To make the record clear, Jews for Jesus is a Christian missionary organization – period." Jews for Jesus: Jewish or Christian? You Decide, Jews for Judaism website, retrieved September 11, 2006.
o "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." (Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Baylor University Press, Nov 2004, p. 448).

Answer 9

the messianic judaism is a christian church which is pretending to be a jewish sect.. they are not christians or jews.. they try to say the church is jew... the church is not jew.. we dont have to follow the jew rites.. the jews are only the people who are able to follow that.. a christian could not follow the law rites.. and a jew could not believe in jesus christ..

Answer 10

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/