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Number of Christian Jews in Israel Doubles to 10,000
In Israel, the number of Christian Jews, known as Messianic Jews, has doubled in size to about 10,000 due to recent immigration waves.
Posted: Saturday, April 30 , 2005, 16:40 (BST)
In Israel, the number of Christian Jews, known as Messianic Jews, has doubled in size to about 10,000 due to recent immigration waves, according to Messianic leaders and evangelism opponents.
Eitan Shishkoff, the leader of a Messianic community in Haifa, located about 70 miles north of Jerusalem, says that there are roughly 10,000 members in 80 Messianic congregations around the country.
The population is twice that of 1980?s, when significant numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet Union began entering the country, according to the Jerusalem Post. Shishkoff says that 70 percent of the members in his congregation of 270 are from the Soviet Union.
In Israel, it is illegal for evangelism efforts to involve material benefits for prospective converts, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Yad L?Achim, and "anti-missionary" organisation opposed to "proselytism" since 1950, says that the Russian-speakers are being approached because of their "weak ties to Judaism and poor socioeconomic status," and are being "bought" through material benefits, according to the Post.
Shishkoff denies the allegation. "Maybe a few of our members first came in contact with us through the charity, but 98 percent of them didn?t ? make that 99.9 percent," he said.
Francis Helguero
Christian Today Correspondent
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Messianic Jews recognize that their existence is entirely due to God's intervention on behalf of His Jewish people. Messianic Judaism is part of the fulfillment of God's many Scriptural promises of eternal love and faithfulness to Israel.
The "Messianic Jewish identity" is wholly dependent on the person of Yeshua: God Himself come to earth to reconcile the Jewish people and all nations to Himself. (See our Statement of Faith to find out more.)
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6
The foundation of Messianic Judaism, therefore, is each individual's personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Messiah Yeshua. In the Hebrew Law God clearly demands a blood sacrifice for the remittance of sins. Each Messianic Jew recognizes his or her own sinfulness and has accepted that Yeshua Himself provided this sacrifice.
Another important aspect of the Messianic Jewish movement is Jewish congregational worship. If Yeshua really is the Jewish Messiah of whom all the Jewish Law and Prophets spoke, then it is the most Jewish thing in the world to follow Him!
Should Jews really attempt to assimilate into churches and forego their Jewish identity when they choose to put their faith in the Jewish Messiah? Messianic Judaism answers, "No!"
As Yeshua Himself embraced His Jewishness, Messianic Jews seek to embrace theirs, by meeting in congregational communities with other Jewish believers and by maintaining a Biblically Jewish expression of their faith. Every congregation is different, but this expression often means worshiping in Hebrew, following Mosaic Law, dancing as King David did before the Lord, and keeping Biblical holidays such as Pesach, Sukkot, or Shavuot.
Also important is Messianic Judaism's ministry to both the Jewish community and the Christian body of believers. Messianic Jews are part of the larger Body of Messiah throughout the world, and Messianic Jews hope to help all believers in Yeshua to better understand the Jewish roots of their faith. Finally, Yeshua declared that no-one can comes to the Father - the God of Israel! - except through Him (John 14:6). Messianic Jews seek to share this way, this truth, and this life with their Jewish brothers and sisters.
http://www.mjaa.org/index.cfm