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Top Document: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Holocaust, Antisemitism, Missionaries (9/12) Previous Document: Question 17.1: Are groups calling themselves "Jews for Jesus" or "Messianic Jews[sic]" Jewish movements? Next Document: Question 17.3: Countering the Question: Why Don't Jews Believe in Jesus as the Messiah? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Answer:
No. There are many problems when one tries to reconcile belief in
Jesus as the Messiah or the "Son of God" with traditional Jewish
beliefs. A good description of the problems is found in the essay "Why
Jews Can't Be For Jesus" by Rabbi Shmuel Arkush, Head of Operation
Judaism in the United Kingdom. The essay may be found at
[5]http://www.ed.ac.uk/~jsoc/chadash/jesus.htm; some of the key points
are repeated below:
* Christians believe in the Trinity, that G-d consists of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They say that this three-part
G-d is the same as the G-d worshipped by the Jews. However, Torah
says, "Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d the L-rd is One." This
is the watchword of our faith from Deut.. One cannot reconcile a
single G-d with a three-part G-d.
* Christians believe that one cannot approach G-d except through
Jesus; therefore, all prayers must be in Jesus' name. However,
Torah, in the Ten Commandments, says "I am the L-rd your G-d, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me". By praying to Jesus as a
mediator, one is putting Jesus before G-d.
* Some Christians say that Jesus was a Prophet who came to change
the way it used to be. Torah says: "If there arise among you a
prophet or a dreamer and he gives you a sign or a miracle. And the
sign or miracle comes to pass and he calls you saying 'Let us go
after other gods, whom you have not known and let us worship
them.' You shall not listen to that prophet or dreamer. For G-d is
testing you, to see whether you love the L-rd your G-d with all
your heart and with all your soul." (Deut. 13:2)
All Jewish groups agree that organizations such as Jews for Jesus and
Messianic Judaism are not Judaism. Consider the following responsa
from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform Rabbinic
organization:
Individuals who feel a vague attachment to one or another religion
pose no problem for those religious groups who leave identification
solely in the hands of the individual. Judaism, however, does not
do so. It is not the individual who defines whether she is Jewish
but the group. For us in the Jewish community anyone who claims
that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate.
Through that belief she has placed herself outside the Jewish
community. Whether she cares to define herself as a Christian or as
a "fulfilled Jew", "Messianic Jew," or any other designation is
irrelevant; to us, she is clearly a Christian. It is true that this
individual may be somewhat different form other Christians as she
continues to follow certain Jewish practices and folkways, but we
should remember that various Christian sects do likewise. For
example, the Seventh Day Adventists observe shabbat as their day of
rest. There are some Black Christian groups who also follow
specifically Jewish observances, and there have been other groups
like this in the past centuries.
The concluding paragraph of the responsa says:
[They] should be seen as outsiders who have placed themselves
outside the Jewish community. This should be made clear to them and
to the Jewish and general community, especially as many such
individuals are active proselytizers. Such individuals should not
be accorded membership in the congregation or treated in any way
which makes them appear as if they were affiliated with the Jewish
community, for that poses a clear danger to the Jewish community
and also to its relationships with the general community. We
certainly do not want these individuals to speak for Judaism in any
public forum. In conclusion, we should make the distinction between
ourselves and these individuals very clear to them, to the Jewish
community, and to the general community around us.
This is also the position within the state of Israel. According to the
law of the State of Israel, "Messianic Jews" are considered members of
another religion and therefore ineligible to make aliyah to Israel as
Jews. The "Messianic Jews" took their cases to the Israeli Supreme
Court on more than one occasion, and every time the verdict was loud
and clear - they're not Jewish!
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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