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Messianic Judaism

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They differ from other Jews over their beliefs about the Messiah. Messianic Congregations are made up of people of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds, and are distinctly Jewish in [[culture]]. All celebrate Jewish [[Holy Days]] and support the State of [[Israel]], and most have their main service on the seventh day [[Sabbath]]. They believe that all of the [[Bible]], both the Tanakh and the [[New Testament]], is inspired by [[God]], and that the New Testament was written by Jewish writers to announce to the world the arrival of the long awaited Jewish Messiah.
All Jewish [[denomination]]s reject Messianic Judaism on the principle that belief in Jesus automatically makes them Christian, and therefore outside of the Jewish community. In fact, Messianic Judaism fits the defenition definition of Christian provided in the dictionary. Many view Messianic Judaism as a dangerous and subversive form of [[apostasy]].  <!-- We need more here about this rejection. I'm not "fact-tagging" this. I'm fairly sure it's true. But we need to know who says this and WHY they say it. For example, WHY does believe in Yeshua automatically exclude a person from the Jewish community? When did this this exclusion become automatic? -->
==Early history of Messianic Judaism==
==How Messianic Jews see themselves==
As a movement, modern Messianic Judaism is still very young. Prior to this, in the 1950s-1970s, Jews who believed in Jesus saw themselves as "Jewish Christians" or "Hebrew Christians" or a Christians of Jewish origins. Some were members of Churches, and some not but often met together to be "at home" with fellow Jewish believers. The most pronminent prominent organization of Jewish Christians was the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America , holding monthly meetings and annual banquestsbanquets. It was not uncommon to hear Yiddish spoken at their meetings as well as English. But nowadays, Jewish exression expression among Jewish believers in Jesus is evinced in and through Messianic Congregations as well as home meetings rather than Churches. Many Messianic Jews in American are experiencing their 2nd and 3rd generation of believers and so provision is made for youth meetings and full family life that finds Jewish expression in the traditional home celebrations of Shabbat, Passover, Succoth and Hannukah celebrations. Messianic Jews also celebrate other of the Jewish Holdiays Holidays but without the the religious and Halachic commandments and significances. For example, few Messianic Jews keep the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) halakhically as Jesus' atonement on the cross has preempted the traditional rational for the Day and few Jews keep Tisha B'Av—the Ninth of Av, a fast day that mourns the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. On the other hand, Israel and its survival and its continued existance existence as a Jewish Nation and a homeland and a refuge for the Jews is almost universally supported by Messianic Jews, probably as much as among the non Messianic religious Jews, and probably much more than secular Jews. The foundation for this adherence to the rebirth and resurgence of Israel is more the Biblical promises of God that are believed in through the teaching and preaching of their Congregations than it being based on a nationalistic or cultural agenda. Most Messianc Messianic Jews see themselves as the "first fruits" or the advanced guard of the Jewish people coming to faith in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and the Light of the Gentiles and most are evangelistically minded toward Jews as well as non Jews coming to faith in Jesus. However, few of them have adopted "Jewishness" as a means of attracting Jews to the faith. This is for the simple reason that almost all Messianics either have experienced a deep and sincere personal conversion to Jesus that has affirmed them in whatever Jewishness that was theirs, either great or little, or they have grown up as Messianics and the Jewishness they live in is already "second nature". It is, they feel, not up for sale, for expoitationexploitation, or for "commercial use" in evangelism. This is not to say that Messianic Jews are not learning in their Jewishness and that in step with their learning to follow Jesus as their Lord. In that way, many Messianic Jews "become" more Jewish, much in the same way that secular jews Jews become more Jewish. Most Messianic Jews are aware that to believe in Jesus is to be fulfilled personally in what God holds out for them and their people and are good Jews for doing so, and sincerely wish the same for their fellow Jews. Though Messianic Jews are sometimes thought to be merely Evangelical Christians in "Jewish disguise", and having the mainstay of Christian belief, this is not universally so. Groupings of Messianic Jews as well as individual ones, may be differing in their adherence to Christian trinitarian and incarnational theology, and range the full gamut in understanding and creedal confession - when there is a creed. There is also a great range of practice of the Mitzvot or practice of the religious law and custom. This range of belief and custom, is evinced among the congregations in Israel as well as in the Unite States. Messianic Jews see that they have an added mission as believers in Jesus. This is to bring to Christians a deeper knowledge of the "Hebrew roots" of their own Christian faith. In Israel, there is great opposition to Messianic Judaism, while at the same time, there is a growing awareness of the movement that is keeping pace with with the growing numbers of Israelis (estimated to be 15,000) that are turning to Yeshua (Jesus) in faith. This is the investigative reporting about the movement of a recent feature by "Ulpan Shishi" (Friday Studio)a secular Israeli News T.V. review. This video is in Hebrew but with English subtitles [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sEBAldf4L0]The following is an example of the surprising diverstity found among Messianic Jews. The subject is an Indian physician working among the tribe of Bnei Menasha of north east India, whom he was instrumental in "discovering", who have been recently declared eligible for immigration to the State of Israel as descendents of Menaseh, together with Ephraim, one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/973487.html]. His hope is that the "hundreds of thousands" of Messianic Jews, like himself, found among the Bnei Menasha will with the rest of the tribe, also be eligible for immigration to Israel.
===Why Messianic Judaism sees itself as distinct from Christianity===
Though Messianic Judaism shares with normative Christianity much of the beliefs about Jesus, it prefers to go its own way as a part of Judaism or completion of Biblical Judaism or an expression of Judaism for the following reasons:
1. It sees that belief in Jesus, is but a follow-through, and a reasonable expectation on the basis of the Jewish Scriptures (Tenakh) while it sees that Christianity often minimizes the Tenakh and the importance of [[Messianic indication Prophecies]] and prophesy indications in the Tenackh.
2. It sees that Christianity often is divorced or alienated from the appreciation and practice of the feasts and Holidays and customs of the Tenakh that Messianics are familiar with and in many cases have grown up with in an intimate way at home and in general Jewish society. An examples are the Passover, HanukahHanukkah, Messianics see no reason for the discontinuance of these practices which they believe Jesus to have fully participated Himself in Himself as being Jewish
3. Messianics are aware of much of the Church being influenced by "replacment replacement theology". That is, God is "through with the Jews" with the Church inheriting by God the blessings he formerly bestowed on Israel - until the Jews should come to faith in Jesus. Most Messianics, though believing that Judaism's gone dreadfully wrong in its rejection of its Messiah has not annulled God's dealings with the Jews and with Israel as a nation and that He is following a timetable of His own that will bring Israel into the fold of faith in its Messiah - along with His other agenda for the people. Most Messianics do see the sufferings of the Jews through history as a punishment for the rejection of their Messiah, but also see it as a consequence of the "Evil in the World" for which perpertrators perpetrators are responsible, and who will be brought to Judgement. In this way, it is not too dissimilar to religious Jews who believe that the sufferings of the Jews is due to the abandonment by the Jews generally of the Torah given them by God, but who allow other factors as explanation..
4. Messianic Jews see no reason to give up their peoplehood because , on one hand, other Jews do not agree with their choice of Jesus and nor, on the other hand, the Church see sees no reason for the Jews continuing unique and singular existanceexistence. They feel that Jesus was a Jew. Peter and Paul were Jews, the New Testament was written by Jews, God made the Jews, and "I am a Jew".
==Support for Messianic Judaism==
The church portrays itself as a "Completed Testament" religion, coming on the foundation of [[New Testament]] Christianity and [[Old Testament]] Judaism. Its theology argues that Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were correct to do so, and that when the Messiah comes again in the last day it behooves both Jews and Christians to accept him. Needless to say, this view is almost universally rejected by modern Jews and Christians.
 
===Israeli secular support===
Support for the civil rights of Messianic Jews in Israel has come from the quarters of civil rights activists and lawyers and some on the secular political spectrum. The reason for this has to do with the political apportionment of cabinet positions and ministries. Israel rarely has enough support in the electorate to ensure majority vote for any one party in the election of the government. Therefore political parties vie for the support of smaller parties to bring them into the government on their side. Shas, the Sephardic based religious party, often is one of these parties, and for their support, the larger parties usually offer it the Ministry of the Interior which deals with their interests. Part of their interest is the curtailing of missionary work in Israel which is accomplished by the Ministry of the Interior blocking the issuance to foreign missionaries of visas, and the preventing of Messianic Jews from abroad from taking out citizenship. Anti-missionary groups (foremost among them being "Yad L'Ahim"-Hand to the Brothers) unofficially are resource to the Ministry of Interior. Thus Messianic Jews find support among these civil rights lawyers and groups who find that in the defense of Messianic Jews, the power of the Ministry of the Interior is limited and civil rights for all citizens are more strongly established.
 
===Evangelical support===
Support for Messianic Jews has grown appreciably in the last 40 years on the part of the Evangelical Church. This is due in great part to the fact that the Evangelical Church is deeply Bible based and therefore well appreciative of the promises of God to bring the people back into the Land at or near the
End of Days. This has been abetted by a number of factors, which on the surface seem to be contradictory, but do find a resolution by leaders of the Evangelical Churches who are, by and large, politically conservative and who teach and lead their people. These factors are 1. admiration for the State of Israel in its victory over its enemies, particularly in the 1967 Six Day War. 2. Increase in Evangelical tourism that visits the sites of the Lord and, as well, the Israeli Messianic scene and congregations (see [[Israel Tourism]]) 3.. Evangelical deepening appreciation of the logistic and strategic support Israel provides the United States as the only democracy in the Mid East and the common ideological front the U.S. and Israel have. 4. Understanding that has been increasing among Evangelicals that both Israel and the United States are now shoulder to shoulder in the fight against Islamic terrorism. These political factors impact on Evangelical support for Messianics in that Messianics are seem by Evangelicals as being the forefront of a new entity bringing hope and an opening for the future. An entity combining Jewishness, Israel, and belief in Jesus as Messiah, Lord, and Savior. Much of these factors are highlighted by the once a year at Succoth Celebration in Jerusalem, when thousands of Christians from all over the world meet for a week, participate in the yearly march to Jerusalem that all Israel takes part in, and at which most often the Prime Minister of Israel delivers an address and expression of Israel's appreciation for support given to Israel by Christians throughout the world.
==See also==
*[[Judaism]]
*[[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Adiabene]]
*[[The Sign of the Cross: of Jewish Origin]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Messianic Prophecies]] with relevant modern and ancient Jewish commentary
*[[Messiah]]
*[[Transmigration of Words in Religion: an essay]]
*[[In the midst of a Maelstrom: the Holy Spirit and silence: an essay]] Israeli Messianic Jew and Egyptian Muslim in Alexandria
==External links==
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