Jews for Jesus–“You Can’t Say I’m Not a Jew”

I’ve been reading a book about Messianic Judaism in order to write an article for MJL, and jeesh is it strange. I won’t get into all the oddities of it quite yet (that’s what the article’s for) but if you’re looking for a fascinating read, I recommend Messianic Judaism: A Rabbi’s Journey Through Religious Change in America. Just this morning I was reading about Moishe Rosen, the guy who founded Jews for Jesus (a group that’s just one branch of Messianic Judaism), and today I stumbled across his obituary from this past Friday.

He was a controversial guy, and I certainly have no lost love for him, but I think he brought up some fascinating points about the Jewish world and halakhah. Here’s a quote from the end of his obit: “You can take from me everything but my Jewishness and my belief in God,” he once said. “You can say I’m a nuisance, a Christian, out of step with the Jewish community, but you can’t say I’m not a Jew.”

It seems so strange to me to cling so fervently to one’s Jewish identity while maintaining a belief in Jesus. Then again, I also don’t understand the people who think leggings count as pants, so I guess my capacity for understanding is relatively limited.

Discover More

Jesus and Halakha

I was recently researching some of the ritual practices of Jews for Jesus and stumbled upon the website of the ...

The Second Coming of “My Jesus Year”

Benyamin Cohen, former editor of the sadly-demised American Jewish Life magazine, wrote a book called My Jesus Year. It detailed ...

The Rebbe as Messiah

I’m a few years late, but I’ve finally gotten around to starting Professor David Berger’s The Rebbe, the Messiah, and ...