In what I found to be a very equitable gesture, the article closed with the following statement:“Messianic Jews” are not considered part of the wider Jewish community). However, Jewish law is clear: once a Jew, always a Jew. Someone who is born Jewish but who converts to Christianity becomes an apostate (in Jewish legal terminology), but they can take steps to return to the Jewish community at a later time should they wish to do so. The Jewish community cannot turn such Jews away, although rabbis may have different requirements for their reentry depending on denominational ideology and understandings of Jewish law.
Do you want to learn about another perspective on this question? You can read about the beliefs of a local congregation that belongs to the movement of Messianic Judaism here.The link is to an article on Ruach Israel's website entitled "What Exactly Is Messianic Judaism?"
A hearty yasher koach to Rabbi Gottlieb and JewishBoston for choosing to delve into the complexity of this question in the modern era and for recognizing the Messianic Jewish perspective rather than demonizing, mischaracterizing, or feigning ignorance.
1 comment:
Hello, My blog name is mellow roc, and my author name is my own, David C. Russell. Your blog was featured as the Messianic Alert for today by google. I grew up in the main line Protestant Church, where like main-stream Judaism not recognizing Messianic Jews as Jewish but "legally apostate" to borrow your phrase, Protestant Christianity continues to ignore what has been learned by some concerning 1st century practice and culture surrounding Yeshua the Messiah. Both are at fault in my opinion. It took a few years, but I no longer consider myself a Christian per se but a Messianic believer. I dropped the label Christian, for the above cited awareness from within my side of the body of Messiah. Glad you are blogging, and hope you or your readers may come visit me at http://graftedinandonthejourneyb.ogspot.com when so moved. Thanks and Shalom!
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