Posted on 05/20/2002 4:01:35 PM PDT by crystalk
Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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When the High Court Welcomes Messianic Jews by S. Alfassa Marks May 14, 2002
On February 20, 2002, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Interior Ministry must register as Jews those who were converted by the Reform or Conservative movements in Israel or abroad. This ruling has not only set in motion a wave which will flood Israel with non-Jews who actually think they are Jews, but has opened the flood gates to the proselytizing Christians. The Christian sect deceitfully calling itself ‘messianic Judaism’ is gaining incredible momentum and educating its members as to how to make aliyah.
Certain branches of Evangelical Christianity have spent over one billion dollars in the last decade to convert Jews to Christianity. Under the guise of ‘Jews for Jesus’ and ‘Hebrew Christians,’ a new threat of spiritual terrorism has emerged in the form of ‘messianic congregations,’ whose theological tenets are identical to the Christian fundamentalists who created them. Their ultimate goal is the eradication of the Jewish people through assimilation to Christianity.
Since the late 1950’s Eretz Israel has had a small population of evangelical Christians, as well as its share of Jewish converts to Christianity. Today, the latter call themselves ‘messianic Jews,’ but don’t let the term fool you — they are not Jewish. This is probably the only fact that both Maimonides and the secular Israeli Supreme court agree on. According to the Court, Christian converts from Judaism are no longer Jews under the ‘Law of Return,’ which deals primarily with Jewish immigration. Though the law is in effect, it is not one hundred percent effective. Christians under this ambiguous term ‘messianic Jews’ are in an active campaign to circumvent these regulations, with the end objective of making aliyah.
The ‘messianics’ have the specific intent of being accepted as Jews in Israel. So much so that they have developed a political action group that lobbies the government, even using Holocaust survivors that have converted to Christianity as spokespersons. These people have a highly strategic plan, are well financed by mainstream Christian groups and have a single goal, to remove Jews from following the faith of their ancestors. Calling it a “significant breakthrough,” messianic Judaism has been officially recognized by the Registrar of Non-Profit Societies, which is a department within Israel’s Ministry of Interior. There you will find this Christian group with an official sounding name Vaad Poala Lma’an Yahadut Meshichit (Action Committee for Messianic Judaism).
According to Yad L'achim (an Israeli anti-missionary organization) there are over 5,000 converts from Judaism in over 38 different groups. Just over a month ago, a Christian newspaper wrote an article about how Christians pretending to be Jews are on duty in the IDF and are ‘witnessing’ to Jewish soldiers about Jesus. The same newspaper talks about Jews in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, who have all now adopted Christianity as their religion. These people have congregations in Israel where they worship their god and continually proselytize other Jews — with some measure of success.
Generally speaking, ‘messianics’ are Jews who have converted and worship Jesus (whom they call Yeshua). However, not all of these messianics are Jews from birth. There are many ‘messianic rabbis’ who are ‘converting’ Christians to Judaism, so these Christians can go missionize to ‘other Jews’ about Jesus. The messianics are also cranking out ‘Jewish Rabbis’ and ‘scholars’ with ‘Master of Theology in Rabbinical Studies’ degrees via the Internet. Anyone can get one. Simply pay the required few thousand dollars and they will send you the study from home material. When you are finished, then you too can convert Christians to ‘Judaism.’
By suggesting that messianics make aliyah from the West, their Christian backers are attempting to expand their influence and make further inroads into Israeli society. In Israel, they can integrate into society and, with a stealth approach, encroach on the Jewish populace. In America, these Christians even fill a few seats at many orthodox congregations. A few years ago, there was a notorious case of two Christians who were stopped from making aliyah after having spent at least a year living as orthodox Jews. Just recently, a Chabad House in Florida removed a Christian who had been there for several months deceiving the community into believing that he was a Jew. Why are they in our congregations? Because they want to appear to be Jews so that they can ultimately make aliyah and continue proselytizing inside Israel. Once they are armed with basic Jewish knowledge, they attempt to infiltrate genuine Jewish communities, spreading inaccurate and intentionally deceiving lessons from the Torah.
The lines are indeed blurring on who is a Jew, and who is not. ---------------------------------- S. Alfassa Marks is the Founder of the Judaic Alert News Service, which tracks the progress and activities of groups posing as authentic Jews. He is also a columnist for the Heritage, the Jewish newspaper of central Florida.
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But as long as one practiced Jewish rituals and had a Jewish mother, one was considered a Jew. The only way to un-become a Jew was to publicly declare oneself some other religion. Saying you believe the messiah has already come in the person of Jesus Christ is not the same thing as being baptised in the Catholic Church.
It is simply a disagreement with rabbinical scholars, who, in Judaism, do not hold the same sway over religious beliefs as do the Pope or Protestant Bishops.
After all that, I'm not Jewish, but this is my understanding.
Sounds like you are a Jehovah's Witness, or a Unitarian, or maybe even a "oneness" Pentecostal. I am a Baptist and a trinitarian as all Baptists and Protestants originally were, what are you?
Grin
Halakha is a body of Jewish law, and it is usually referred to in connection with the rules as to who is a Jew, or as to how a non-Jew may lawfully and thus acceptedly, ever convert into that faith.
If a person is a Jew halakhically, he/she either was born to a Jewish mother, or underwent a full conversion process at the hands of an Orthodox rabbi qualified to perform such conversions, and this involves circumcision for a male, and immersion in a mikvah bath (origin of Christian custom of baptizing converts)...for either sex, as I understand it. Besides studying the mitzvahs and promising to try to keep them, although I think about 30 of the 613 are observed even by the so-called modern orthodox. So it looks to me...
Besides that, circumcizing young adult males is so onerous, I think that they just draw a tiny droplet of blood from the penis instead, the tiniest amount that can be seen on a white Kleenex...of course come to think of it, most Christians in the USA were already circumcized anyway, so go figure.
All she did was make her way thru the cubicals to preach.
She doesn't work here anymore...
AAHH! Chagrin. I wrote 10,000 didn't I. Anyway thanks for the information about Halakha. I find that most useful. You too onedoug.
I'm a bit rusty on Judaism, but my Jewish friends have explained to me very simply that though they believe Jesus lived, he was only a Profit. The Jewish people, or at least the practicing orthodox Jews I know, are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
Put Simply, Jesus was not he.
Thank God we are not saved by uttering old verbal formulations we don't understand.
Nobody more mainstream than I, but above all don't mention the JW, they are a pet peeve of mine. I am a Trinitarian, but I do not believe in three gods. One god, three means or methods of appearing (relating) to Man, over time, and space, and from one man to another, from one day to another. In the Messianic age, all this will be clear to all, hopefully we can then laugh about our silly little verbal limitations here.
What hysterical foolishness. Their organizations are not a "guise," they tell you exactly what they are. "Spiritual terrorism"-- pulleese--spare us the demagoguery. Their ultimate goal is to witness to everyone about their faith in Christ--not to eradicate Jewish people. What venemous billious crock.
Could it be that their zeal might be due to the fact that their Messiah, a Jew, Jesus Christ of Nazareth commanded them:
Matt.28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {teach...: or, make disciples, or, Christians of all nations} 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Rom.1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Christianity gives its followers a mandate to preach the gospel or witness to every person on the faith of the earth. And that we will do. If we made an exception for Jews, we would be anti-Semitic, not the other way around. Anyone has the freedom to share his faith, and anyone has the freedom to reject or to accept the message.
This "avatar" and "apparition" business is pretty far out of the mainstream of historic Christianity, or, for that matter, "Messianic Judaism." Jesus, Yeshua, has historically been understood as "fully God" and "fully man," though I'm sure it is possible to find, on occasion, variants...these would have to be called "christian heresies," under the title of "Docetism."
For an example of Messianic believers who really ARE believing and practicing Judaism, as well as EXCELLENT thoughts on a hundred subjects including Waco, see the Nazarene Judaism website and books of James Trimm, Society for Nazarene Judaism, Dallas, Tex. www.nazarene.net, or anything involving Trimm, Nazarene J, etc.
The key point is; ONE God, not three.
Jesus was fully man, but also a manifesting of God and his nature and message to the world...as well as the early brief prior appearance of Mashiach, who at the end will reappear as the afikomen or "dessert," to rule all nations and usher in the Messianic age. May that be soon is my prayer.
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