Y Not I

The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star newspaper printed an article about a Messianic Congregation and their Passover Seder. Then an Op-Ed piece by Joe Katz, the treasurer of the University of Mary Washington Hillel., in which he opines about how Messianic Judaism is “dishonest”, “deceptive”, “steals members of other faiths”, “spreads misinformation”, and has “destructive tactics.” Read the article for yourselves and see how much the author is trying to scare the readers, especially the Jewish readers. To the author Messianic Judaism is filled with people who’s only purpose in life is to steal people from other faiths. The concept that maybe this is who we really are, Jews and Gentiles who believe Yeshua is the promised Messiah and look at Scripture and see that very clearly, and also see very clearly through Scripture that believing in Yeshua does not mean to become Gentile or to give up Jewish Holidays. When someone puts forth these types of ideas, what they are saying is that there is a man made tradition of Judaism and there is a man made tradition of Christianity and the two of them have nothing to do with each other, and that is true. However, the Scripture show that there is something more than the traditions of the Rabbis and the traditions of the Church fathers. Scriptures show a Jesus, who went to the Temple, who celebrated the Passover Seder, and his followers who went to the Temple, while they were telling others about the risen Messiah. They continue to keep kosher (Acts 10), they continued in various practices in accordance with Jewish tradition. If it was good enough for Jesus, Peter, Paul, Timothy, et. al., then why is it deceptive for me to follow the same practices?

While Messianic Judaism can be traced to an origin thirty to forty years ago, a more accurate origin would be back from the days of the Book of Acts. Messianic Judaism is a natural outpouring of Jews who have come to faith in Messiah. As obvious as the opinions of the op-ed author are to him, to Messianic Jews, it is very plain and clear who we are and Scripture is very clear that our practices are perfectly in line with Jewish traditions and more importantly with in line with Scripture.

Rabbi Stuart Dauerman had a nice letter to the editor of the paper that he published on his blog. He is correct that so often, the Jewish critics of Messianic Judaism sit outside and try to scare the Jewish public about who we are. I notice this often in areas where many Jewish people have gone and retired, like South Florida. If Jews for Jesus is coming to the area, orgainizations like Jews for Judaism will come around trying to scare the people. Would it not be better to have an open and honest discussion about the faith and let people make up their own minds. It seems like maybe people like the op-ed author and the groups who try to defend Rabbinic Judaism are afraid of a discussion, afraid of having the Jewish people get an opportunity to experience Messianic Judaism and make a decision for themselves as to whether this faith is one that is real or not. Instead it is about the scare tactics, so that many, especially the old, become afraid of being stolen away.

I don’t think the article misrepresented the Passover Seder. Even among the different Jewish traditions, there are different interpretations of the symbols used in the seder, as well as added symbolism (See here and here). So for a group that is defined from the beginning of the article to be Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and then to state their practices is not in any way misleading, nor does it indicate that it represents what other faiths teach or do with the symbols of the Seder.

All in all an interesting discussion. If you are interested in debates between Rabbinic Jews and Messianic Jews about various subjects (Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah, Where the Rabbis Right?), then check out Real Messiah. It is full of articles and mp3’s all about open and honest discussion between Messianic Jews and Rabbinic Jews.

As always, I encourage you to pray on these things.