Messianic Judaism Quest

The following is part of a new series of posts that I will be making. They are edited versions of actual email dialogs that occurred between myself, and individuals inquiring about Messianic Judaism or hoping to visit the chaverah I am a part of. For the most part, they are edited only to protect the names of the guilty and the innocent (me)!

Here is the initial email:

Hello, Our names are Kyle and Miriam we are interested in your church. However, there are a couple of basic questions we would like to have
answered first.

What is the church’s position on the speaking in tongues?

What is the position on the state of the dead? (What happens to a
person’s soul when they die?)

Do you believe in the rapture? (As presented by the movies and books
that are so popular)
Here is my response 

Thank you for your inquiry. I am curious to know what the extent of your familiarity with traditional Judaism or Messianic Judaism is.

Our synagogue reflects the structure and perspectives of a traditional synagogue community with the major exception of our acceptance and affirmation of Yeshua of Nazareth as the Messiah of Israel. That being the case our community reflects the norms of traditional Jewish life (e.g. Hebrew liturgy, tradition, worldview, identity) as much as possible.

Interestingly, there exist only four major groups or denominations with the normative (non-messianic) Jewish community. Those divisions are largely reflective of differing perspectives on the observance of the mitzvoth (i.e. commandments) and their
practical implementation. Judaism emphasizes observance/behavior as the primary marker of Jewish “faith.”

In contrast, traditional Christianity, its variegated forms,  largely holds creedal formulations as defining the boundaries of orthodox faith and  hence there exist hundreds if not thousands of Christian denominations whose doctrinal perspectives often differ only slightly from each other.

That being said, our community emphasizes what we consider to be core commitments of faith (e.g. Torah and the revelation of Yeshua to Jews and non-Jews) while maintaining a measure of tolerance towards differing views on the charismatic gifts,  eschatology, etc. In our circles, we have some that affirm to the existence of charismatic gifts and others who do not. We leave potentially devisive “doctrinal” perspectives to continual study and
discussion while emphasizing the many common points our community holds.

I realize that most Christian churches have very well defined perspectives on these issues. We respect that approach and honor those perspectives, but emphasize a synagogue/community model we believe to be in continuity with the historic expressions and perspectives of Jews through the centuries.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance (or confusion!).

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