Messianic Judaism

I have spent every New Years in New Orleans since I was in the fifth grade. Every year all the Jews in the South flock to New Orleans to celebrate; it's become known as Jew Years. It's a great time for all the people from my camp and from my NFTY region (which includes New Orleans) to get together for a reunion. It normally includes well over 100 Jews taking over the French Quarter and sometimes organized Mitzvah Projects the following morning (I mean we have do our part in Tikkun Olam right?)

Last year everything changed. After Hurricane Katrina, we didn't know what was going to happen to Jew Years. None of our Jewish friends had homes to host people, and several of them had moved away. After a long debate (conducted mainly through a facebook group), everyone decided we wanted our lives to be normal despite the storm so Jew Years was going to happen in New Orleans once again.

Call me silly, but one of the first thoughts that went through my head when I realized I would be ringing in the New Year once again on Bourbon Street was, "I hope the crazies are back!" (By "back" I mean that they have returned to the city since the Hurricanes.)

"The Crazies": endearing term given to those eager Christian Evangelists who stand and preach on the corners of Bourbon Street.

I always laugh at the signs that they hold up and the way that they preach; I've been told several times in the French Quarter that I'm going to Hell. And for a lot of great reasons: drinking (my kiddush wine of course), laughing at them, being a Jew, etc...

Flash forward to New Years Eve 2006: I'm walking down Bourbon Street with some friends on our way to meet the rest of the group and that's when I saw the big signs: JESUS SAVES. "Yay! The Crazies are back!" I run to greet them, and then I notice something strange...kippot? Why are these crazies wearing kippot? I decided to find out.

I went and talked to the guys for a while. I told them that my biggest problem with them was the fact that they use the term "Jew" when they are not Jews...they belive in Jesus. To me, this seems like a fundamental difference. They tried to assure me that it wasn't.I don't remember all of what the man said to me, but I do remember one main point that he hit on. I asked him something about taking the Bible literally, then he should keep kosher and all that stuff (which he didn't...which is fine becuase I don't either!). I also told him that he should be making sacrifices like the Bible commands. This opened the door for him to preach "Jesus" to me. He told me that Messianic Jews believe that Jesus was the "ultimate sacrifice" and therefore, there shouldn't be any sacrifices made anymore. I thought that was an interesting way to look at it. I'd pick the Amidah over Jesus any day though.

I have no problem with the beliefs of Messianic Jews; I would just rather that they not call themselves Jews. Their belief system is fine with me; who am I to critique the beliefs of someone else. I only wish they wouldn't label themselves as Jews when there is such a fundamental difference between the two religions.

On a different note, I just waned to make one comment about something I found very interesting on the website for the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America website. The site says, "We recognize that Jewish people (physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, whether through the mother's or the father's blood-line) who place their faith in Israel's Messiah, Yeshua, continue to be Jewish according to the Scriptures (Rom. 2:28-29)." They make sure to refer to the bloodline of Jews. I thought this was very interesting after our discussion in class about whether Judaism is only a belief or if it is a race. This statement leads me to believe that Messianic Jews would consider it to be a race--it's in one's blood. But does this mean that a Christian (in the normative sense of the word) could convert to be a Messianic Jew?

Sarah Goes to L.A.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Los Angeles. The General Assembly (GA) is an annual conference held for Jewish professionals (and students) in the US and Canada. This year there were about 5,000 people in attendance. There were tons of speakers (including Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Olmert) and an expo fair comprising of over 100 Jewish organizations.

Had I only missed my flight to LA, gotten to go to the recording of Deal of No Deal, met Magic Johnson, and seen the second round of tryouts for American Idol in my hotel room Dayeinu! But no....on top of all that Sarah won free trip to Israel from a raffle with the Jewish Agency.

I had signed up for a free lunch for students through Masa and the Jewish Agency the first day of the conference because I figured why not? I want to do one of their programs next year so I might as well hear them and see what they say...and eat. Next thing I know the whole room is looking at me and my friend Amanda is saying, "Sarah...they called your name. That's you!" Turns out I had entered myself in a raffle when I signed up for the lunch.

After I figure out what is happening and the lunch ends, I sit down with a man from the Jewish Agency to discuss my possibilities for using my free trip. It is for an aliyah based program. This doesn't mean that I have to make aliyah, it just means that the program must be focused on it. They will pay for my airfare and program fees. Incredible? I think so. Although they can't give me the program that I am planning on doing next year, I will be able to do a few weeks with them before my 10 month adventure begins. And I get free airfare. What's better than El Al? Not too much.

It really made me think about the Jewish Identity that the Jewish Agency is creating in America. It's all about aliyah. The panel that talked during the lunch was comprised of 5 olim chadashim. Some were religious, some were not religious, some were in the army, etc... I belive all of them were American by birth (I could be wrong about that though....but definately the majority were American). Through the Jewish Agency they had created a whole new life for themselves in Israel. Different language, different culture, different people; but they are all Jews. The emphasis on making aliyah made me really think about the Diaspora. The American Diaspora is like un-religious Jewish Israeli on Shabbat (or rather Jews who are not Shomer Shabbas). We need both to survive! If no Jews worked on Shabbat then what would the IDF do? And what about the hospitals? Similarly, what would Israel do with the backing of the American Jewish population? When Prime Minister Olmert spoke at the GA he told us that the UJC had raised over $225 million for Israel in the past few months since the war against Hezbollah began. That's a lot of money! Without a strong Jewish population in America today that would not have happened. Aliyah is not for everyone; it's a definate possibility for me, so I consider myself to be extremely lucky for winning this trip, but what if it had been someone had no interest in it?

In conclusion: I love Israel, I love the Jewish Agency, and I'm going to Israel for free! (oh yeah, and watch for me in the background of Deal or No Deal in January...I'm wearing a blue shirt!)