Oye, like we're mavens!
Well, we will do our best and if we don't know the answers we will try to find them!
If you have a question e-mail us at mail@yeshuaconnection.com!
How do I acknowledge Yeshua as my Messiah?
How do you acknowledge a relationship with anyone? You tell them. Do you want a religion? You already have a religion. You're Jewish! You were born Jewish and you will die Jewish. What you need is a relationship with the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua. He died on a tree for you and his blood is the atonement for your sins. Maybe you haven't stolen or murdered, but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave us a few very basic commands. How about the one that says honor your mama and daddy. Have you ever been rude to them once since your birth? You sinned! How about when you were afraid of the outcome of telling the truth and you lied. You sinned! The Yom Kippur services are fine except for one thing. The forgiveness of sins that God requires comes through blood sacrifice. When the temple was destroyed the rabbis came up with their own idea, mitzvahs and Yom Kippur repentance minus blood sacrifice. Hey, faith is simple! Prayer is simple. Just talk to God and tell him you are ready for Yeshua's sacrifice to be the final atonement for your sins.
If you do not have Jewish blood, you of course, can not ever be a physical Jew. The non-Messianic Jewish community may say that they accept you as a Jew after a rabbinic conversion, but most of them in their heart will never accept you as a "real" Jew. Christianity had Jewish roots. In the beginning, at the time of Yeshua and years after, believers all adhered to the Jewish tradition and customs. See Acts 21:17-24. A few situations in history corrupted this and in came pagan ideas. Look into Constantine, Council of Nicea, 325, where a Roman leader who believed in Jesus and the sun god negated many Jewish traditions established by G-d in the Bible. You can believe the foundations of Christianity and be a Jew by religion. If you follow the Jewish Messiah, believe the New Testament, written mostly by Jews, and keep the commandments that G-d gave the Jewish people, you are a Jew by religion. Some non-Messianic Jews may not accept this fact, but that is their opinion. Some Orthodox Jews do not believe Reform Jews are Jewish. That is nothing more or nothing less than their opinion. You don't need a rabbinical blessing from someone who does not believe in Yeshua. You do not need to adhere to rules and regulations made by the rabbinical community many of whom put other rabbi's thoughts as equal or above the words of the Bible. Look at our statement of faith under "About Us" on our site. Check out ffoz.org. Go to umjc.org and mjaa.org and they may be able to help you find a Messianic congregation in your city.
How can I really know if Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel?
Well, there are many many scriptures in the Jewish Holy Scriptures that you were given for your Bar(Bat) Mitzvah, confirmation, etc. Scriptures like the whole chapter of Isaiah 53, Proverbs 30 verse 4, Micah chapter 5 verse 1 etc and many more, but the best way to know is by asking the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob if Yeshua, who the Goyim call Jesus is the Messiah of Israel.
I Have a question. Please forgive me as it may seem ignorant, but I am not aware. Although I understand and agree with the having Jewish blood to be a Jew concept, I being American know American history. I believe that given the many decades and even more than a century of settlers with unimaginable poverty in the early history of America, there would be many people who have lost their ancestry and could not know from where they have descended. So my question is how would one know for sure ? I wish to thank you for your time in helping someone understand Judaism as it is very interesting to me.
There is an actual DNA test that can show if a person is Jewish or not. We have seen many people who have begun feeling an affinity for Jewish things and Israel for seemingly no reason, who later find out they had Jewish ancestry. In some cases, it was a family secret. That is not always the case, but it has happened. It happened frequently in generations following the mass killing of Jews. Even in the early Biblical times, the scriptures tell us of foreigners attaching themselves to the Hebrew nation. In that case, they would have followed the Torah and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There probably was inter-marriage. It could be that people who consider themselves Jews today beyond a shadow of a doubt, myself included, may not actually be able to clear a DNA test for that Jewish link. There is a great danger when Gentile believers begin to have an interest in Judaism. Please pay close attention to the portion and percentage of time you devote to Judaism compared to your time in the Holy Scriptures, prayer, fellowship with believers, and seeking to grow in maturity as a believer. Stay balanced!
It wasn't like that at the beginning! He was and always will be the Jewish Messiah. History did a lot of strange things. A lot of cover up. First of all his name IS YESHUA! His mom called him that as well as everyone else that knew him. All of his first followers were Jewish as well as most of the writers of the New Testament. It wasn't until around the year 325 that believers in Yeshua were officially forced by a Goyim Roman Leader named Constantine to stop all traces of Jewish activity.....celebrating shabbas, Pesach, etc.
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We can understand why you would be dizzy. Even between rabbis there are different interpretations. Rabbinical kosher does go beyond the written Torah. The meat and dairy issue's root was that the Torah said not to boil a calf in its mother milk. That ruling is, like many others; man made with good intentions, but unbiblical. There is no reason for a person wishing to follow the Torah, to avoid eating meat and dairy together unless in fact it is meat from a calf that was boiled in its mother's milk.
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Good Question! In most cases I know of the family goes into a little shock. It probably won't be the first time something you did shocked them! As the spirit of God becomes more of a reality in your life, they will begin seeing changes for the better. How can they argue when they see your life changing in a positive way. Share with them about the messianic synagogue that you join. Let them see that you still have a nice Yiddisha Kup! Remember the spirit of God drew you to the Messiah, trust him to draw them. Your defensiveness and answering questions about Yeshua that they are not asking will not help either. Let them see you are as Jewish or more Jewish than you ever have been and allow the Ruach HaKodesh to mold you into a person they will not only respect, but also want input from.
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The Jewish Holy Scriptures from Genesis to Revelations should be read to teach us about G-d, ,bring us closer to G-d and to mold us so that the words of our mouth, our thoughts, and our actions are acceptable to him, and to give us an idea of the past and future of both the Jewish and Gentile people. In his presence is the fullness of joy. Yeshua said he didn't come to destroy the Torah. In fact he kept Torah. We are called to follow the Torah as an instruction for a better life not to make us rule laden.
Another good question! E-mail us and let us know where you are living and we will get you in touch with them. Where you will find Jewish people you will find Jewish believers in Yeshua.
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Good question. Nu?
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Concerning Jewish ancestry, what is the DNA test that can be performed to see if one has Jewish ancestry?
The most recent genetic research consists of obtaining DNA samples, and doing laboratory analysis and comparison of the DNA markers on the Y-chromosome -- which is passed from father to son, and on the mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) -- which is passed intact from mother to son and daughter. This genetic anthropology promises to be particularly informative for tracking the history of Jewish populations, and helping to resolve the debate on the origins and migrations of Jewish communities in the Diaspora. You should get it done by two different independent services. They should be able to provide you with the Jewish DNA information. A local synagogue might also be of help.