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Messianic Judaism is a religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 1970s. Its members declared themselves as followers of Judaism and believers in Yeshua (Jesus). Messianic Judaism is not accepted as a valid form of Judaism by most Jewish communities, who have declared it as a form of Christianity.
| Name | Formed | Focus | Current (or last) Leader | Headquartered In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chosen People Ministries | 1894 by Leopold Cohn | Chosen People Ministries, formerly known as the American Board of Missions to the Jews, is an organization founded in 1894 by Leopold Cohn as the Brownsville Mission to Jews. It purpose is to convince Jews that worship of Jesus is compatible with Judaism. It currently focuses on the production of evangelistic material geared towards converting Jews and material which links aspects of the Torah as the Passover Seder with Jesus. | Mitch Glaser | New York City |
| Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) | 1915 | Formerly known as Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, MJAA renamed itself in 1975 to Messianic Jewish Alliance of America to change tactics in evangelism and to coincide with terminology changes in the wider movement. [1] | MJAA General secretary Joel Chernoff | Springfield, Pennsylvania |
| Jews for Jesus | 1973 by Moishe Rosen | Jews for Jesus is a Messianic Jewish non-profit organization founded in 1973 which seeks to share its belief that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Jewish people. | David Brickner | San Francisco |
| Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations [2] | 1979 | Cooperating congregations focused on relational unity of Jews and Gentiles in the Messiah. | Jeffrey Seif, Executive Director | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Messianic Jewish Fellowship International [3] | 2016 | Jews who consider themselves descendants of the first Jewish messianic community in Jerusalem. Converts are welcome, the Old Testament is accepted as well as the four Gospels of the New Testament. The remaining books of the New Testament are understood as additional inspirations from God. No membership fees, non-profit. The Fellowship is running the Jewish University of Colorado, the only Messianic Jewish university worldwide. [4] [5] | William Smith sr., Primus inter pares. | Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Denver, Boise |
| WMEK Messianic Jewish Association [6] | 2015 | WMEK Messianic Association is a Messianic Jewish (Netzarim) non-profit organization founded in 2015 which seeks to share its belief that Yeshua is the promised Messiah. They follow Torah as well as the New Testament. [7] | Rabbi Yosef Ben Marques | Lehigh Acres, Florida, Caracas, Venezuela |
| TTN - The Torah Network [8] | 2021 | The Torah Torah Network (TTN) is a social platform catering to followers of Yeshua worldwide who adhere to Torah principles. It provides a space for individuals to convene and exchange their interpretations and insights on the entirety of the Bible. | Rhy Bezuidenhout | Leeds, United Kingdom |
Judaism is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people, having originated as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Contemporary Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the cultic religious movement of ancient Israel and Judah, around the 6th/5th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which was established between God and the Israelites, their ancestors. Along with Samaritanism, to which it is closely related, Judaism is one of the two oldest Abrahamic religions.
Jewish eschatology is the area of Jewish theology concerned with events that will happen in the end of days and related concepts. This includes the ingathering of the exiled diaspora, the coming of the Jewish Messiah, the afterlife, and the resurrection of the dead. In Judaism, the end times are usually called the "end of days", a phrase that appears several times in the Tanakh.
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a mashiach is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.
Jews for Jesus is an international Christian missionary organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that is affiliated with the Messianic Jewish religious movement. The group is known for its proselytism of Jews and promotes the belief that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. It was founded in 1970 by Moishe Rosen as Hineni Ministries before being incorporated under its current name in 1973.
Messianic Judaism is a modernist and syncretic sect that considers itself Jewish. Many consider it a part of the Christian movement of evangelicalism.
The Messiah in Judaism is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jews. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Priest of Israel traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. However, messiahs were not exclusively Jewish, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, Achaemenid Emperor, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.
Carol Harris-Shapiro is a lecturer at Temple University in the Intellectual Heritage Department. She has written a controversial book on Messianic Judaism, a belief system considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity, adhered to by groups that seek to combine Christianity and Judaism.
Jews for Judaism is an international organization that focuses on preventing Jews from converting to other faiths and reclaiming those who have already converted. It provides counseling services, education, and outreach programs to all Jewish denominations. It was established in 1985 by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz.
Adherents of Judaism do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah nor do they believe he was "the Son of God". In the Jewish perspective, it is believed that the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, which is central to Judaism; Judaism sees the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, which is forbidden. Therefore, considering Jesus divine, as “God the Son”, is forbidden. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology, which holds that the coming of the true Messiah will be associated with events that have not yet occurred, such as the rebuilding of The Temple, a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland.
A number of religious groups, particularly Christians and Muslims, are involved in proselytization of Jews: Attempts to recruit or "missionize" Jews. In response, some Jewish groups have formed counter-missionary organizations to discourage missionary and messianic groups such as Jews for Jesus from using practices that they say are deceptive.
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established by Rabbi Wise are the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The current president of the URJ is Rabbi Rick Jacobs.
Ger toshav is a halakhic term used in Judaism to designate the legal status of a Gentile (non-Jew) living in the Land of Israel who does not want to convert to Judaism but agrees to observe the Seven Laws of Noah, a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of universal moral laws for the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. A ger toshav, especially one who decides to follow the Noahic covenant out of religious belief rather than ethical reasoning, is commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile", and is assured of a place in the World to Come .
Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population. Other faiths in the country include Islam, Christianity and the religion of the Druze people. Religion plays a central role in national and civil life, and almost all Israeli citizens are automatically registered as members of the state's 14 official religious communities, which exercise control over several matters of personal status, especially marriage. These recognized communities are Orthodox Judaism, Islam, the Druze faith, the Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Anglicanism, and the Baháʼí Faith.
Noahidism or Noachidism is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews, based upon the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism.
The Hebrew Christian movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries consisted of Jews who converted to Christianity, but worshiped in congregations separate from denominational churches. In many cases, they retained some Jewish practices and liturgy, with the addition of readings from the Christian New Testament. The movement was incorporated into the parallel Messianic Jewish movement in the late 1960s.
Some Christian groups incorporate Jewish holidays into their religious practice, typically altering and reinterpreting their observation to suit a supersessionist theology.
Daniel C. Juster is an author and advocate of Messianic Judaism. He has served in the Messianic Jewish movement since 1972.
Israel College of the Bible, also known as ONE FOR ISRAEL Bible College is a private Hebrew-speaking Messianic Bible college in Netanya, Israel. It is an independent academically accredited institution not recognized by the State of Israel.