Background
My father once told me the story of a Jewish man who visited a Christian church. Among the many activities that were strange to him, he took a special interest in the procedures that surrounded the collection of numerous monetary offerings. On leaving the church service on that occasion the Jewish man asked his Gentile friend a significant theological question: “If Jesus was Jewish, the apostles were Jewish, and the early Church was Jewish, then who sold this business to the Gentiles in the first place?”
Though this story is meant to be humorous, it highlights a significant issue for the Jew who enters a Christian setting. A Jewish follower of Jesus finds little that is familiar in the church, little that can serve as a reference point for further encounter. In my own case, my father tried to give me a traditional Jewish upbringing and religious education. When, at the age of twenty, I became a believer in Jesus as Messiah, I strained to find reference points in Christianity that were in any way familiar to me.
At that time (1969), there were few options open to a Jewish believer. As a product of the sixties counter-culture, I was encouraged to “leave everything behind” and revel in my “born-again” status. I was to forget what I had been in the “flesh” and focus on “who I was in Christ.” I most eagerly jettisoned my radical political beliefs, my Beatles albums, and my drug paraphernalia, along with my Jewish upbringing. At best, I could count my earthly credits as “loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:9). I was a “new creation” and I looked with great anticipation toward my practical incorporation into the Body of Christ, the visible Church. I was now part of a community where there was neither Jew nor Gentile.
I was disappointed to discover that most of my new Christian friends had adopted wholesale an expression of the Christian life that did not seem to match the New Testament pattern about which I had read. In fact, it seemed as if they had clipped their image of Jesus and the Church out of the Jewish New Testament and pasted both onto a Gentile backdrop. The resultant pastiche bore little resemblance to what I was reading about in the New Testament.[1] Although I forced myself to adapt to what seemed very foreign, it was with a sense of mourning that I abandoned my Jewish heritage that suddenly had new meaning for me. However, I submitted myself to my pastors and teachers, and set aside all that I had been in order to apprehend what I had become in Christ.
How would it have been different if I had been shown a way to express my new faith in Christ in a Jewish context? What would it have been like for me if I had not been the only Jewish believer in Jesus in the fellowship? What would it have been like to have at the same time explored what it meant to be in Christ and have discovered the true meaning of what it was to be a Jew?
For thirty years I have lived as a Jew within the Gentile Christian community. Although I have visited Messianic congregations on a few occasions and have had limited social intercourse with those who were practicing Messianic Jews, I am very much an “outsider” to Messianic Judaism. Although my father sought to provide for my Orthodox Jewish education, my Reform Jewish mother and step-father supported my decisions to withdraw from most Jewish concourse in my childhood and adolescent years. As a result, much of what is normative in the cultural background for those attracted to Messianic Judaism is foreign to my own experience. My own stance has been to withhold myself from Messianic fellowship in favor of a fuller absorption into a modern American (and Gentile) expression of Christianity.
The birth of my daughter, Abigail, thirteen years ago occasioned the beginning of an inquiry into my own identity as a Jew. My fortieth birthday found me enrolled in seminary education, and as I faced the issues of mid-life, I found that more and more Christians were taking note of Messianic Judaism and were asking for my opinion. It would no longer suffice for me to dismiss Messianic Judaism as an oddity of a few culturally-bound Jews in metropolitan areas. My own opinion that Messianic Jews were, for the most part, secular Jews who in becoming Christians had adopted a Jewish flavor that was foreign to them, had to be revisited. At the same time, I became more and more dissatisfied with traditional forms of church worship and expression that began to seem more and more “Gentile.” At home in neither church or synagogue, I have been repeating the story of the “sale of this business to the Gentiles” more regularly in my religious interaction.
This work deals with my own unanswered questions and seeks to provide an account of the historical development and current status of Messianic Jewish congregations in America and Israel, and to analyze their function in fellowship, discipleship, and evangelism. “Messianic” congregations are comprised of those who place their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah of Israel. They are Jewish in that they identify themselves with the first century Jewish Church before it was superseded by Hellenistic and Roman Christianity. Present day Messianic Jewish congregations are made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus who have rejected historic Christian congregational expressions as being “Gentile.” They have chosen to express their religious identity and corporate worship in a more genuinely Jewish style. This may include Hebrew liturgy and prayers, “Israeli-style” hymnody and dance, the celebration of Jewish festivals, Sabbath observance, and in some cases, strict adherence to the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law.
Since the disappearance of a distinctively Jewish-Christian expression around the time of the Bar Kochba revolt (132-135 C.E.), few Jews have expressed their faith in Christ outside of historic Gentile Christianity. Near the beginning of the twentieth century, increased interest in Jewish nationalism and identity engendered isolated efforts at Jewish-Christian congregational expression.[2] Presently there are as many as 300 Messianic Jewish congregations worldwide.[3] Most of these began in the past thirty years. For the most part, these congregations have developed independently of one another. Cooperation and coordination between congregations exists through a dozen organizations such as the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America and the International Federation of Messianic Jews, as well as Christian denominational agencies. However, no umbrella organization can claim to speak for Messianic Judaism as a movement. It is my purpose to survey the broad Messianic Jewish congregational movement in America and Israel. My particular focus is to compare American and Israeli congregations in their function as “churches” in fellowship, discipleship, and evangelism.
The Current State of Scholarship
Some people from both the Jewish and Christian communities would dispute the possibility of a genuine Messianic Jewish expression of Christianity. Many Jewish authorities insist that Jews who believe in Jesus are no longer Jews.[4] The majority Jewish opinion holds that only Jews who are ignorant of Judaism could be swayed to belief in Christ.[5] Especially in Israel much has been made of the Rabbinic contention that Jewish believers in Jesus are recruited from the fringes of Jewish society.[6]
In present-day Israel, critics of the Messianic Jewish movement note that the greatest number of recent Jewish converts to Christianity are from immigrant groups.[7] Such critics contend that immigrants are lured to Jesus by promises of financial and material assistance.[8] Israel is a nation of immigrants and there are few sabras (Jews born in Israel) who have become Christians.[9] It is true that Russian immigration to Israel has increased the membership of Messianic congregations.[10] It is also true that many of these Russian Jews were kept in ignorance of the meaning of their Jewish heritage during the years of communist rule. Though unschooled in Judaism, and in most cases in great financial need, this does not necessarily mean all of these conversions to Messianic Judaism are for illegitimate purposes.
In Israel and throughout the world many Jews who have believed in Jesus would attest to a faith that is the result of neither Jewish religious ignorance nor personal financial need. There is a viable body of Jewish people who know and worship Jesus as Lord (and many who wish to do so) in a manner that is culturally relevant to them as Jews.[11]
In an effort to grapple with personal issues, I began to investigate the scholarly research on Messianic Judaism. I discovered that few scholars have considered it seriously. Most literature on the subject is propagandistic. Jews for Jesus and numerous other Messianic organizations have produced tracts and booklets that sought to justify their own practices, positions, and existence, and to raise financial support.[12] Rabbis and other Jewish writers have issued wholesale condemnations of Messianic Jews.[13] Only a few persons have made scholarly attempts to write a history of the Messianic movement. Hugh J. Schonfield’s seminal volume on Messianic history was out of print and Schonfield, a Jewish believer, had renounced his faith, asserting that the resurrection of Jesus was no more than a fabrication.[14] Jacob Jocz’s history was published in 1949.[15] David Rausch has briefly surveyed developments up until 1988, focusing on one American congregation.[16] Theses and dissertations by James Hutchens, Richard Robinson, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Roy Fuller, Daniel Juster, Carol Harris-Shapiro, and Michael Schiffman are primarily focused on issues of identity and theological justification. My investigation uncovered little scholarly effort that assesses Messianic Judaism from a historical perspective as a viable religious movement. Kai Kjær-Hansen alone has produced a volume on the life of Joseph Rabinowitz of Russia that does not stake out a confessional, political, or polemical position.[17] His work is a valuable contribution to the history of Messianic Judaism in the nineteenth century. Further research is needed on recent developments within Messianic Judaism. I hope to contribute by offering this comparative analysis of contemporary congregational expressions in the Christian-dominant Jewish minority context of America and the Jewish-dominant Christian minority context of Israel.
Methodology
I have been able to obtain copies of all relevant historical materials reflected in the attached bibliography. More current sources are the past five years of Mishkan, a Messianic journal published in Israel. Kai Kjær-Hansen, its editor, is also International Coordinator of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE). He made the resources of the LCJE available to me. Fred Klett, coordinator for the American chapter of the LCJE, provided a list of unpublished papers delivered at the LCJE meetings in America. David Brickner, Executive Director of Jews for Jesus, afforded me free access to the resources at their San Francisco headquarters. Bodil Skjøtt of the Caspari Center for Biblical Research in Jerusalem assisted my research into Israeli materials.
Many Messianic Jews who cherish their ties to the Jewish community are uncomfortable about committing their stories to writing. Instances have occurred of confrontation and persecution by militant elements of the Jewish community.[18] This is especially prevalent in Israel. In light of this, it was necessary to do much of my research by means of personal interviews. Furthermore, because Messianic-Judaism is an emerging, growing, and living faith, living participants are a crucial source of data and interpretation. Indeed, as religious historian Wilfred C. Smith has said, “Of the various ways of finding out what something means to a person, one is to ask him.”[19]
In November 1996 I attended a “Messianic Ingathering” sponsored by Jews for Jesus with permission to conduct interviews with the attendees. Following that meeting, I visited key Messianic congregations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Further interviews were held at the March 1997 Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism in Philadelphia. In addition, I mailed a survey to 210 Messianic congregations in the North America. Based on the responses to the surveys, I arranged follow-up phone calls and personal interviews. In January 1997 I traveled to Israel to meet with twelve leading families representative of the Messianic movement there.[20]
My goal in field research was to assess and analyze Messianic congregational life. Other studies have addressed the issues of Jewish-Christian identity, the theology particular to the movement, and its historical development. My concern was to probe the function of Messianic congregations as culturally indigenous expressions of the Messianic Jewish faith. My work focuses in three areas:
- Fellowship: It is my intent to analyze and document how these congregations provide a sense of community for their members. How do the members relate to one another? How do they individually and corporately relate to the larger Christian community, the unbelieving community, and the Jewish community.
- Discipleship: How do these congregations function to provide an environment for personal spiritual development and growth? What opportunities exist for discipleship? How satisfying has this experience been from the perspective of the members and leaders?
- Evangelism: How effective have efforts at outreach been to the Jewish community? Is this cultural approach working from an evangelistic standpoint? What are the differences in approach and response in religiously and culturally distinct contexts of America and Israel?
The answers to these lines of inquiry in Israel and America are compared and contrasted to see how Messianic Judaism “works” for its adherents. Does it provide satisfaction as a religious experience? How does this differ in the American and Israeli context?
My purpose is to describe modern Messianic Judaism for what it is. I look neither to affirm nor discredit it. I desire to give a phenomenological description of Messianic Judaism and discover the self-understanding of Messianic congregations.
Just a few miles to the north of where I spent my first few months as a new believer, in the San Francisco area, a small band of Jewish believers were beginning to find their identity as “Jews for Jesus.” It was their premise that a Jew did not cease being a Jew when coming to Christ any more than a male ceased to be a male.[21] They interpreted the message of the early Church as one by which every cultural group had the right of full access to God by means of the sacrifice of Christ. They built their evangelistic method on the principle that a Jew who believes in Jesus need not become a Gentile. Jews were still Jews who now had added faith in Jesus to their experience. This did not mean that they ceased to be Jewish in that experience.
As the efforts of Jews for Jesus and other groups of believing Jews began to bear fruit, small communities of Jewish believers began to express a desire to meet as believers and as Jews. If Gentile believers could worship in a Gentile manner, then certainly Jewish believers should be able to worship in a Jewish manner.
This was not the first time in history that Jewish believers had sought to meet in a Jewish way. However, it was the first time since New Testament times that significant numbers of Jews were coming to Jesus and beginning to express their faith in a corporate and Jewish manner. In 1969, Messianic Judaism was in its inception. Today it is a historical reality with over 210 Messianic congregations in the North America and as many as 50 in Israel.
“The History and Theology of Messianic Judaism” traces the disappearance of the Jewish leadership and cultural hegemony that marked the first generation of the church. It deals with the events leading up to and surrounding the Bar Kochba revolt in the second century, at which time the Jewish Church ceased to exist as a visible historical entity.[22] In it we note isolated evidences of Jewish belief in Jesus up to the latter half of the nineteenth century, when Jewish-Christian congregational identity began to reemerge. Attention is given to the necessary theological development that parallels these historical moments.
“An Emerging Identity” focuses on Messianic congregations as indigenous expressions of the Christian faith in a Jewish cultural setting. It touches on charismatic and non-charismatic worship styles, celebration of Jewish holidays, use of Hebrew liturgy, Sabbath observance, kosher food laws, and Jewish education for children and adults. This section considers the numerous Messianic umbrella organizations that seek to promote various elements of Jewish identity.
The Law of Moses is an important issue for Messianic Jews. Some congregations only allow observance of the Mosaic Law as part of their Christian liberty. Other fellowships see Torah observance as mandatory for Jewish believers and for Gentile believers who participate in Messianic congregations. We focus on the role of modern day “Judaizers” in the light of this controversy.
“The American Expression” chronicles and analyzes the Messianic experience of participants in interviews held at the 1996 Jews for Jesus Ingathering in Delavan Wisconsin and the 1997 Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism in Philadelphia. Since these interviews were free-flowing, with the participants encouraged to tell their own stories, it was impossible to forecast what the content would be; but the focus was upon fellowship, discipleship, and evangelism. I interviewed individuals who represented geographically distinct congregations. I then placed these data in an interpretive framework, along with the information gathered from congregational surveys and my visits to congregations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
The content for “The Israeli Expression” comes out of my research trip to Israel in January 1997. I conducted eighteen interviews with leaders from several of the fifty Israeli Messianic congregations. I observed communal life and interviewed and participated in corporate worship in order to understand how Messianic congregations function in fellowship, discipleship, and evangelism.
“The Future for Messianic Jewish Congregations” gives special attention to the issue of indigenous cultural expression, especially to both the commonalities and differences in the American and Israeli experiences. The issue of evangelistic outreach and congregational assimilation is most significant. How successful are these congregations in proclaiming Jesus as the Jewish Messiah to other Jews? For Israeli Jews to worship with a Jewish liturgy and flavor is only natural. Is the Messianic congregation an effective contextualization of the gospel message for Israeli Jews? Is the American expression as effective in its intercourse with American Jewry? How do the contexts differ? What social, cultural, and contextual factors contribute to “congregational success”?
Notes
[1] Elements of that Gentile background included a somberness in worship, magic-style incantations in Jesus’ name, a pantheon of divine beings that included a very powerful devil, and an influential Mary. Missing was the Jewish joyful celebration of God’s presence and favor and a strong consciousness of the need for human repentance in the face of the one and only God.
[2] The congregation that was founded by Joseph Rabinowitz in Russia in 1885 is one good example of this. Kai Kjær-Hansen, Joseph Rabinowitz and the Messianic Movement: The Herzl of Jewish Christianity, trans. Birger Petterson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).
[3] 1996-1997 International Messianic Directory (Virginia Beach: Messianic Bureau International, 1996).
[4] A good summary of scholarly opinion is in the article by Jakob J. Petchuowski, “What is a Jew?,” Judaism 30 (1981): 434. See also Lawrence H. Schiffman, Who Was a Jew? (Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, 1985).
[5] See the discussion in Jakob Jocz, The Jewish People and Jesus Christ: A Study in the Relationship Between the Jewish People and Jesus Christ (London: SPCK, 1949), 224-28. Also see the articles on “Jew” by Raphael Posner and “Jewish Identity” by Arthur Hertzberg, Encyclopaedia Judaica, Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, ed., (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1971), 10:22-25; 54-65; and “Jew, Who Is a Jew?” The Encyclopedia of Judaism, ed. Geoffrey Wigoder (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1989), 384-85.
[6] “From the Israeli Press,” Mishkan 24, no. 1 (1996): 74-77.
[7] Raymond Gannon, “An Update on Israeli Russian Ministry,” Mishkan 24, no.1 (1996): 57.
[8] This accusation of “conversion for gain” is common in the history of the interaction of the Synagogue with the Church. Jocz, The Jewish People and Jesus Christ, 201-2.
[9] David Smith, Baptist representative in Israel, interview by author, 17 June 1996, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.
[10] Bodil F. Skjøtt, “The Messianic Movement in Israel,” Mishkan 24, no. 1 (1996): 36-37.
[11] There are over 210 Messianic Jewish congregations in North America and 50 in Israel. Others may be found in Russia, Great Britain, South Africa, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Holland, Ukraine, and Japan. 1996-1997 International Messianic Directory, Appendix B, 1-6.
[12] For example, see D. Chernoff, Introduction to Messianic Judaism (Havertown, PA: MMI Publishing, 1990).
[13] For example see Samuel Levine, You Take Jesus, I’ll Take God: How to Refute Christian Missionaries (Los Angeles: Hamorah Press, 1980); Isaac ben Troki, Faith Strengthened, trans. M. Mocatta (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1851, 1970); Gerald Sigal, The Jew and the Christian Missionary: A Jewish Response to Missionary Christianity (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1981); and Aryeh Kaplan, The Real Messiah? A Jewish Response to Missionaries (New York: National Conference of Synagogue Youth, 1976, 1985).
[14] It has since been reprinted. Hugh J. Schonfield, The Story of Jewish Christianity: From the First to the Twentieth Century (London: Duckworth, 1936; Ashford, Kent: Manna Books, 1995). Schonfield’s abandonment of faith in Christ is documented in his The Passover Plot: New Light on the History of Jesus (London: Hutchinson and Company, 1965).
[15] Jacob Jocz, The Jewish People and Jesus Christ: A Study in the Controversy Between the Church and the Synagogue (London: SPCK, 1949).
[16] David A. Rausch, Messianic Judaism: Its History, Theology, and Polity (New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1982).
[17] Kjær-Hansen, Joseph Rabinowitz and the Messianic Movement.
[18] Rausch, Messianic Judaism, 201.
[19] Wilfred C. Smith, “Comparative Religion: Whither and Why?,” in Mircea Eliade and Joseph M. Kitagawa, eds., The History of Religions: Essays in Methodology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959), 40.
[20] I met with several of the most prominent Messianic pastors in Israel, scholars at the Caspari Center for Jewish and Biblical Studies, and families from congregations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon Le Tsion, and Netanya. This group included evangelicals, charismatics, and immigrants from America, Russia, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as “sabras.”
[21] This assertion is in response to the pressure imposed on Jewish Christians in regard to Paul’s assertion in Gal 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
[22] Sociologist Rodney Stark suggests that Jewish Christianity continued to flourish and have significant impact on Gentile Christianity for several centuries after Bar Kochba. Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 49-71.