“A blogger writes about how one of Judaism’s holiest days ended, for her, in a strip club, while elsewhere a guy strolls into a tattoo parlor requesting a Star of David. Two women exchange wedding vows in a Jewish ceremony, and hipsters toss back bottles of HE’BREW, The Chosen Beer…. [Moses] couldn’t have seen these Jews coming.”

This is how a recent article begins, showcasing the so-called “New Jews” and the ways they express their Jewishness: with flagrant violation of Torah, and a heart ablaze for assimilation.  They are “making [Judaism] and its culture work for them and others in a time when, more than ever, affiliation is a choice.”  It’s an astute observation by Ms. Ravitz (the article’s author), and one that should make us shudder:  it’s happening again—as it has continually since the beginning—Jews choosing… as if we had a choice.    (more…)

Personally, I’m not a big fan of typical Chanukah observances for one simple reason—we tend to let them steal God’s thunder, so to speak. How do we do this? By affording Chanukah equal (or greater) attention with Adonai’s Feasts and appointed times, and by using it as a replacement for Christmas.

So many of us—after deciding that Christianity in all forms is “pagan” and “evil”—run screaming from the church’s religious clutches, only to impose our residual sense of religiosity upon “the right and true way” to live for God. Chanukah, then, becomes another casualty of our religious metamorphosis, as we swap out one over-hyped Christian holiday for a Jewish one. But just because Chanukah is mentioned as a passing detail in Yochanan (John) 10:22, that doesn’t give us permission to appropriate Chanukah for our own “Messianic” needs or agendas. The fact of the matter is, unlike the Feasts and appointed times designated by Adonai Himself, Chanukah is a man-made, Jewish holiday—and we only make it more so when we heap upon it the traditions and theologies of our own making.

(more…)

But this does not change the fact that I was completely mortified by the explanation that came stumbling forth.  I can only hope that the words employed came out of nervousness or ill-preparedness, but alas, Messianic Judaism was forever characterized for these Christians as “Church… with a Jewish flavor.”  If we are nothing more than “church” with a kippah—or a synagogue with Yeshua on top, for that matter—we have failed in our mission, and utterly lost our way.

(more…)

With such diversity of Jewish cultural and theological expression here in Phoenix, it makes me muse about why Messianic Jews are not invited for inclusion.  Of course, the newspaper’s and community’s response to an inquiry from the Messianic camp is a foregone conclusion—to them, Messianic Jews have left the faith… we are an abomination, mixing the sanctity of Judaism with the perversions of a foreign religion.  That is the way they see it.  Within the local Jewish community, we are not even tolerated as an oddity or abberation—we are shunned, excommunicated, and declared no longer “Jewish.”

(more…)

My hope is that believers who come across factoids like this will not take them to heart, and will instead steer clear of Jewish literature as an avenue for understanding Yeshua.  Seeing the Master in His proper historical and cultural context is one thing, but the Talmud and other Jewish writings are ultimately useful and authoritative for one thing only: acquiring an understanding of Judaism—a Judaism which is historically and spiritually hostile to the Messiah Yeshua.  Indeed, did not the Master Himself say to the fathers of Rabbinic Judaism, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.  But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” (Mark 7:7)  For all their alleged wisdom and insight, the Rabbis take us on a circuitous journey around and passing by the God of Israel, failing to deliver us into a deeper relationship with and knowledge of Him. 

(more…)

Ms. Miller’s most profound observation and conclusion, however, was as follows:

“… Spain possesses a religious unity that the United States lacks.  We do not have those unifying characteristics like a common hair color, face shape or type of cuisine.  In Spain, everyone has the same thick, dark-haired look: not I….  Now, back in the U.S., I feel so at home in part because of the diversity—I’m able to blend in….  But it’s more than that.  In Spain, religion is intricately interwoven with the Spanish way of life: there is no separation.  Here, perhaps because we’re allowed the luxury of deciding how and to what extent we want to celebrate our religion, the opposite is true.  We can separate it as much or as little as we want.”

(more…)

Now, don’t misunderstand—I am very much in favor of Christians supporting and loving Israel, and I am as supportive of the State of Israel, and its peace and safety as much as the next Jew.  But I am of the opinion that Israel’s security and blessing is not solely linked to the willingness of the United States to stand with her, but comes in conjuction with Israel’s fulfillment of her destiny as a light to the nations—which begins with knowing, accepting, and following Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel.  And herein lies the major issue I take with Hagee’s unbelievably flawed—dare I say, heretical—theology.  Before I get into that, however, I need to be fair: I haven’t read all of Hagee’s book.  Nevertheless, I am prepared to throw his baby out with his bath water based solely on the content of pages 132-143.  Why?  Because by Hagee’s own confession, the “Jesus issue” appears to be the crux of the book.  This is what he says, 

(more…)

“The United States… is a country of immigrants.  For centuries, wave after wave arrived on these shores, fleeing persecution, hoping to better their economic condition and merge into the mainstream of American society…. Immigrant Jews rapidly learned English, adopted American dress styles and sent their children to colleges and graduate schools as they became respectable members of society…. Even while we were moving up the ladder, most Jews did not forget the Torah injunctions to remember our heritage.  So we Jews set up neighborhood synagogues, spent our free time involved with Federations and Jewish fraternal organizations… we collected money, attended meetings… and to religiously educate our children, we invented… Hebrew and Sunday school.  Imagine our surprise and shock, several generations later, when… our grown children did not follow in our Jewish footsteps.  Today… they are walking away from 4,000 years of Jewish history and we are shocked…. 

(more…)

Why should we?  After all, we Jews are some of the most self-reliant, independent, stubborn people who ever walked the face of the earth.  Who needs God when you can take care of yourself?  Surely, we can take credit for the success we have had assimilating into the nations of the world.  We have every right to say, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” (Deuteronomy 8:16)

(more…)

The biggest issue facing the Messianic Jewish Movement is that we as a movement have issues! As small as we are, we are nevertheless amazingly fragmented — every corner of the movement vying for preeminance, collectively displaying an amalgamism of disarray to the public at large. While we struggle with trying to understand our identity and function in the world, we are kept too preoccupied to weigh in on matters of importance to our people — adding our voice to a dialogue that could otherwise affect restoration and salvation. It is these issues — issues of faith, of peoplehood, of covenant, of calling, of Messiah — that are the Messianic Jewish issues I wish to address in this forum. Be assured, though I try not to take myself too seriously, I am gravely serious about the issues that affect us not just as a movement, but as the remnant of Israel chosen to bring our people back to God — which, in turn, will be “life from the dead” for everyone (Ro.11:15).

Thank you for joining me in this ongoing discussion. I hope you will jump in, and I pray that you will be both edified and challenged as we work through these important issues together.