Messianic Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament, yet they embrace the covenant responsibilities of the Torah & of Jewish life. They believe Jesus died for the sins of the human race, was raised from the dead, and is alive today. Traditional Jewish faiths believe in the pending arrival of the mashiach and recite the Shemoneh Esrei three times daily to pray for the coming Messiah. In Messianic Judaism, they refer to Jesus to by his Hebrew name, Yeshua HaMashiach. 
In the late 1800s, revivalist protestants in the United States and Europe, sought to tell Jewish people about Yeshua (the Hebrew word for God's Salvation) or Jesus. Some people did become followers of Yeshua during this time which sprang into whole congregations of Jewish believers of Jesus. This movement became known as "Hebrew Christianity." Messianic Congregations today generally include Jewish people who believe Jesus is the Messiah as well as Protestants who wish to worship God through historically rooted Jewish traditions.I attended the 10:30 Shabbat Saturday service at Adat Yeshua
Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
בֵּית, יַעֲקֹב--לְכוּ וְנֵלְכָה, בְּאוֹר יְהוָה. ~ Isaiah 2:5
Upon entering the Synagogue, there were yamulkes at the front available for men and many of them wore prayer shawls.
Congregational Leader Jamie Shapiro lead the service and his wife Deena directed the music. There was an extensive amplified band. Mrs. Shapiro led the congregation in many musical numbers at the beginning of the service, she had a great exuberance about her and an obvious passion for her faith. I was surprised by how charismatic the musical part of the service was ~ people stood up and sang, raised their hands to the lord, and were very energetic.
He is My Defense, I Shall not be Moved
• Bar'chu is the calling of the worship prayer, the prayer is recited while standing. During the second line of the prayer, the members bowed at the waist.
• Then the Shema or Sh'ma was performed, three biblical passages work together to create a model for remaining faithful to a belief in God and in God's unity.
• People then greeted each with the peace offering, Shabbat Shalom.
• A Kaddish prayer, which is a mourner's prayer, was said in remembrance of all who have died in the fight for Isreali's independence. A young man from the congregation, read from the holy book. Their Torah, scrolls, are kept in a cabinet called an "ark" in the Synagogue.
• Yom Ha’atzmaut was the topic for the sermon, a Jewish holiday that will be observed on May 5th of this year. It commemorates the Israel's Independence day (May 14th, 1948) - a significant day for those of both the Jewish and Messianic Jewish Faith. Pulpit Minister, David Harris gave the sermon, an historical breakdown of how the Jewish State of Israel came about. He discussed the father of the idea behind it, Theodor Herzl. It was an extremely interesting lecture.
• They concluded the sermon by singing HaTikvah (The Hope — Israel's national anthem). The first time they sang it softly as a prayer, the second time was sung loudly as a declaration.
• Communion was then offered. All of the congregation gathered around a table and a modified Kiddush prayer was said as a blessing of the wine. Each congregant took a morsel of Matzah bread and soaked it in wine or juice.
• To conclude the service, the prayer Aleinu (“It is our duty to praise”) is said. People gathered in groups - they enveloped each other in prayer shawls and put their arms around each other. A young couple near me were kind enough to come up and adopt me into their prayer group.
After each service, the congregation shares an Oneg Shabbat which means Joy of Sabbath. - it is a dinner where the congregants enjoy fellowship.
After each service, the congregation shares an Oneg Shabbat which means Joy of Sabbath. - it is a dinner where the congregants enjoy fellowship.
There are so many different rituals involved in Judaism services. I know I have left many elements out, but it was a wonderful experience to be a part of - the cultural pride and religious sanctity was very impressive.
THANK YOU Adat Yeshua for sharing with me your unique and meaningful worship of Adonai.
Note: Since Hebrew is written in reverse of English - the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book) goes backwards in numbering.
Thanks Mira, for your comprehensive, enthusiastic, and detailed look into Jewish congregational worship. There are many Jewish Christians in the United States who have blended into the Christian mainstream, but the Messianic Jews who preserve the ancient Jewish rituals and add the modern Christian dimension to them give us a deeper understanding of God's purposes and desires for all Christians. After all, Christianity itself takes its roots from the Jewish faith, and the greater part of the Christian bible was translated from the Hebrew text.
ReplyDeleteI did not know I was Jewish for many years, having grown up in the Catholic faith, and recently found out that my ancestors had "hidden" their Jewishness because of the Inquisition. These ancestors of mine were called "Conversos" because they converted to Christian Catholicism; many by extreme duress. There are entire colonies of Sephardic Jews that have lived as Catholics in our local area but still celebrate certain of the Jewish feast customs.
The Messianic Congregational celebration of the Jewish Feasts gives us so much understanding of the meaning of Christian precepts and principles. To understand the Jewish Feasts is to understand the Heart of God. Christ Himself died exactly on the Jewish Feast of Passover, at the exact moment when the Jewish Priests were sacrificing the lamb for the Passover Feast celebration. Because of His sacrifice, Jesus has become the Lamb of God, our substitutionary sacrifice for sin, and the Savior of Mankind.
Ultimately, I believe that Messianic Jewish believers have not blended two faiths, but have taken the roots of Christianity which have always been Jewish--Jesus is a Jewish Carpenter--and have come back to their true Jewishness with the recognition of their own salvation through the One and Only Messiah, Jesus Christ. Even Jews have to receive salvation by faith, as all Christians do, by acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Therefore, all Christianity is discovered to be Messianic because all Christians acknowledge by faith that Jesus, by virtue of His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, is Messiah, Christ, King of the Jews, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the personal Savior of all who by faith believe in His sacrifice.
Thank you for the contribution - it is a great experience for me.
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