I believe that Messianic Judaism is another branch of Judaism much like Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, etc. This is because we have more in common with Judaism, I believe, than with Christianity. It is not the purpose of this article to debate the various branches of Judaism. I am simply looking at how Messianic Judaism fits into the whole picture of Judaism.

There are many commonalities which Messianic Judaism shares with Judaism. The following is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Firstly, we believe in the Torah as the Word of God. I know that Christians also accept it as part of their bible, but I do not believe that they put the same emphasis on Torah as would Jews. Many Christians believe that the Torah was abolished by Yeshua and therefore, they do not need to follow its laws. Yet, they forget what Yeshua said in Matt. 5:17-19 "Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

I believe that there are many “buffet believers” in Christianity. They like to quote certain passages in Torah because it makes them feel good (Psalm 23) or because it supports their replacement theology.

Another similarity with Judaism is the importance of Shabbat. In the Ten Commandments (Aser HaDebrot) God makes it clear that we are to "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. You have six days to labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for HaShem your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. (Exodus 20:8-10)

We keep Shabbat because we love and want to honour God. We do not worship on Sunday because we are neither Hebrew Christians nor the Jewish church. We also do it because we are following the example of our Rabbi Yeshua. Luke 4:14-16 states “Yeshua returned to Galilee in the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.”

We also keep Kosher according to the laws set out in Leviticus 11. We do not eat pork, shellfish or any other non-kosher food. This is even though Christians try to use Acts 10 and Mark 7 as proof texts that the kosher laws were abolished. Neither of those texts proves these misconceptions. In Acts 10 Kefa (Peter) emphasizes twice that the vision was not about food, but about the acceptance of non-Jews into the faith. “He said to them, "You are well aware that for a man who is a Jew to have close association with someone who belongs to another people, or to come and visit him, is something that just isn’t done. But God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean.” (Verse 28)

“Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” (Verses 34-35)

We keep the biblical feast days of Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Shavuot, etc. We do not celebrate Christmas or Easter, which are pagan holidays and never celebrated by Yeshua.

It is clear through the scriptures that Yeshua celebrated all the Jewish feasts.

Matthew 26:17 “Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Yeshua, saying to him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

John 10: 22-23 records, "Then came the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah) at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade." As a Jew, Yeshua most certainly would have participated in the Feast of Dedication.

We see that Yeshua’s Talmidim (Disciples) also kept the feasts as witnessed by the outpouring of the Ruach in Acts 2.

I think that by being clear that we are a Jewish movement who observe Torah and believes in a Jewish Messiah we should be able to alleviate many of the questions that plague Christians about Messianic Judaism. I could go on, but as I said before this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of similarities with Judaism.

If you have any questions, comments, or any suggestions for future topics, please feel free to e-mail me at at this address.  You can also leave comments on Facebook once the articles are posted. I want to finally thank HaShem for all the glory goes to Him.  He gave me the strength and ability to write this article.  I am only a piece of clay in the hands of the Potter.

If you have any questions, comments, or any suggestions for future topics, please feel free to e-mail me at at this address.  You can also leave comments on Facebook once the articles are posted. I want to finally thank HaShem for all the glory goes to Him.  He gave me the strength and ability to write this article.  I am only a piece of clay in the hands of the Potter.

Baruch HaShem

Avraham Benjamin