Arielle Randle: What is a Messianic Jew?

there are um some Messianic Jews who might feel like they don't want to identify as Christian Christianity is a faith but it's also a culture there's you know a history that's associated with the Christian Church um not all of which is positive certain people think that there's a political understanding or oh will we eat a ham on Christmas that's what Christians do right [Music] hey friends welcome back to the channel where we dive deep into meaningful conversations that Enlighten educate and Inspire today we have a thought-provoking dialogue that explores the concept of Messianic Judaism I'm Jeff Morgan and today we have with us Arielle Randall the communications director for Jews for Jesus Arielle grew up in New York and New Jersey and is a wife and mother of three beautiful children get ready for a conversation that transcends boundaries Fosters understanding and brings us all closer to a richer tapestry of Faith whether you're already familiar with Messianic Judaism or just curious to learn more this conversation promises to be enlightening let's Jump Right In Arielle thank you for joining us today thanks for having me Jeff yeah I'm truly excited to have you here with us to discuss an intriguing topic uh Messianic Judaism so uh I just want to Dive Right In so for our viewers who may not be familiar with the term could you please explain to them what is Messianic Judaism yeah so just on a very basic broad level Messianic Jews are Jewish people that believe in Jesus as the Messiah um but within Messianic Judaism there's different groups and there's different things that that can mean to different people and sometimes people say like well how do I join Messianic Judaism and it's not that's not one group it's not one denomination or one specific organization it's really that's an umbrella term for a lot of different things which is actually the beauty of it because you can be Jewish from any different background and have faith in Jesus and then practice your Jewish life and your faith in a way that's meaningful to you and so um Jeff do you want me to dive in a little bit to some of the different groups within that um yeah sure thing and also you know like where where does the actual term come from um because you know I hear it all the time you know why not just say you're a Christian you know and I want to get into why is that that Messianic Jews like myself like you find it important to actually say hey I'm a Jewish believer in Jesus hey I'm a Messianic Jew you know why is it important for us to maintain that Jewish identity yeah that's such a good question um so Messianic that term coming from the word Messiah right so we're Jewish people who believe that Jesus says Messiah um some people might say like I'm a Messianic Jew a Jewish person who believes in Messiah with that being implied that you know we believe Jesus is the Messiah um there's other Jewish groups that believe in other Messiahs um they might not I don't know if they would think of themselves as Messianic Jews but um in the most definition of the word right that's it it's just like Jewish people who believe Messiah has come and um some people would think about Messianic Judaism using that word of Judaism because the very first followers of Jesus were Jewish and maintained Jewish practice um you know religious Judaism really Jesus himself fought in synagogues and kept kosher and you know all the laws in the Torah so the idea of this faith and this practice of Jewish religion and incorporating Jesus's Messiah into it is really a form of Judaism however obviously a lot of times people today when they think of Judaism they're thinking about rabbinic Judaism which is something that came about later after the time of Jesus right and as much um uh more formed by teaching the rabbis and obviously um that's a different you know understanding of Judaism that is um distinct from you know the Messianic understanding yeah I was on the uh down the streets today actually um just talking with people on the streets doing some interviews and um it was really fun and and uh the people that I spoke to actually never heard of Messianic Jews before um and they were surprised and and it's it's nice to get into conversation and just remind people that the the very first followers of Jesus were Jewish it was a very Jewish movement and like you said they were going to synagogue they didn't stop becoming being Jewish until um not that they stopped becoming Jewish but uh Revolt um they were saying oh the the Messiah has come and the Jewish Believers were like hey wait a second no our Messiah has already come we can't follow barcelon they were kicked out of the synagogue and so at that point there was a very major fracture between religious Judaism and Messianic Judaism and it's been that way ever since exactly yeah so just going back to your question about you know why wouldn't we just say like we're Christians um I think most Messianic Jews would say we are Christians like absolutely we're Christians but within Christianity there's many different um expressions of Christian faith and many of them are cultural expressions right the way people practice their faith um of of faith in Jesus in France compared to Brazil compared to Japan you know you have you're going to find Believers in Jesus in all those places maybe some of Jewish but um they're gonna practice their faith super differently based on their cultural context right so we are Christians but we're practicing that faith in our Jewish cultural context because that's what's um that's the you know it's like that's the language of our heart right and that's the beauty of in my opinion the beauty of of Jesus and of Christianity is that it's a faith that has room for people to express it every language and every culture um and that diversity is part of what makes that Faith so beautiful that's so well said because it reminds me of uh of what's his name Rabbi um Isaac Lichtenstein um from the 1800s from Hungaria he was a uh a rabbi a very well-known Rabbi in his community and you know he receives the the old the New Testament throws it across the room this is the source of all our problems as persecuted Jews and 30 40 years later he picks up the the New Testament looks inside of it and instead of discovering anti-Semitism he discovers love salvation forgiveness and um and and the New Covenant basically and he didn't stop being Jewish and he actually stayed within his religious Jewish Community the entire time he was a Believer now he had some um some um regen a little bit of rejection and some opposition but you know he didn't leave his Jewish roots behind and so it's a great it's a great Point um wait I do want to just mention yeah because I because I know there's people out there who are you know wondering about this right there are um some Messianic Jews who might feel like they don't want to identify as Christian and they would say I'm not a Christian and I think that that is coming from um a a point of view that the Christian Church um you know that Christianity is a face but it's also a culture right and that there's you know a history that's associated with the Christian Church um not all of which is positive and there's also you know maybe cultural understandings of what Christians are you know maybe certain people think that there's a political understanding or oh will we eat a ham on Christmas that's what Christians do right so I do understand that for sure like people who feel like I'm a Messianic Jew I'm not a Christian and um there's validity in that because they feel like they're not connected to that culture of Christianity but I think it's important for me this is my perspective as Messianic Jews it's important that we clarify because people don't always mean the same things with some of these terms right so it's important we might I've said to people like if they say are you a Christian I say well I was raised to it I don't really identify so much with a lot of cultural Christianity when I go to churches sometimes I like feel like a tourist like I don't feel like I was raised in this right um and so in some ways I might feel like I'm not a Christian um but if you mean if you mean Christian like cultural Christianity I might not I might not identify with that but when we talk about Christians as in the global body of Believers in Jesus absolutely I stand with that body of people and I want to definitely be counted in that in that number because I think it's so important that as Jewish people we're represented um in that body so I think it's important sometimes to unpack the terms of what people mean when they say those words absolutely because it I mean I I'm here in Israel and the term Christian in Hebrew has a very different connotation than it would in Europe or or um in the states and so we definitely have to clarify and some people will call it hey that's deception why don't you just say Christians well because like you said we have to it's coming from a different cultural perspective that we have to explain so that people can understand oh I see where you're coming from you're not just one of them because in all honesty the term Christian here in Israel is actually can be viewed as a curse word in many in many occasions so when someone says so you're a Christian I'm like well let me let me describe to you I'm a Jewish man raised in a Jewish home with two Jewish parents had Bar Mitzvah wrapped to fill and went to Jewish summer camp and so on you know a bagels and locks on on Saturdays um and but but I had a supernatural encounter with who I believe is the Jewish Messiah and so but yes I'm a Christian I'm a follower of Christ which is Greek for uh mashiach which is Messiah and so it's just kind of helping people understand more these these cultural terms that are really looked over and not necessarily understood uh culturally absolutely plus yeah and plus it you know being a part of the Jewish community you know this is who we are you know I was raised in the Jewish Community I went to Temple with my parents and and so to to be a follower of Jesus and and still consider myself within the Jewish Community I mean we have other terms as well Reform Judaism conservative Judaism Orthodox Judaism ultra-orthodox Judaism it's it's like well you Messianic Jews are creating new terms it's like well no these are just different ways of showing how we express our faith I love that yeah that's very well put it totally and I think um as as Jewish Believers in Jesus I think that we can bring something fresh also to the Jewish Community I think we have a lot to give I think that we um uniquely can be abridge you know especially for you know people who are Interfaith families and maybe you know you have people of different backgrounds in one family which now is becoming more and more common and we totally understand that because we have a foot um in the Jewish world and in the Christian world and um and also I think that the values that Jesus taught are very much in line with what the Jewish Community still believes today right about you know Justice and love and um and equality and all those things so I think we just we have a lot to to give by still being part of the Jewish Community 100 yeah really really important for Jewish Believers uh to even though it can have its challenges right it's important for us to have a foot in both worlds because we bring something special to the Jewish community and the Christian Community wow well said well said I I also have had a few conversations lately and and my heart went out to them with people that have one Jewish parent and that parent just happens to be their father and so they've never considered themselves Jewish their whole life and come to find out when you look through the Bible you know Moses married a midianite Joseph and and Judah married uh non-jewish women and yet the entire uh people of Israel came from this patrilineal descendancy and and I was telling these people I said look you know we look through the Bible and and in my opinion you're a Jewish person they were like really I'm Jewish and I was like yeah of course you you're Jewish and they're like well I never I said you may have to go through some processes here in Israel uh to be considered Jewish because your mother's not Jewish but you know technically speaking you know you're Jewish and they were kind of like uplifted wow I I really am part of the Jewish community and that's kind of how um I felt as a Messianic a Jew um that hey I'd been a part of the Jewish Community my whole life it feels weird to me to think that maybe I'm not anymore but hey I actually am yeah and even more so yeah even more so because Yeshua he connected me even deeper to my Jewish identity than I ever was before because I was completely dismissive of Judaism before I came to Faith in Yeshua hmm yeah that's really interesting I mean I think even being Jewish means so many different things to to different people right I mean like think about being American you know I mean that can mean very different things to different people it can mean a long Legacy it can mean something new that you're embracing you know for the first time and so it doesn't have to look one way and I think I really love the movement within the Jewish Community this idea of big tent Judaism I don't know if you've heard about that um but a lot of um groups you know here in the U.S especially I think are kind of embracing this idea that like there's room there's you know Big Ten Judaism like there's room for people to be part of Jewish life um and let's open the doors to include more people and this idea of inclusivity being something that is key to the Future uh because the mentality that may be previous generations you know our grandparents had of you know we have to survive at all costs that mentality served them in light of they were facing right but what we're facing now is I mean certainly anti-Semitism but also assimilation right and so we have to figure out um how do we open um open up Jewish life to include more people so that we can you know preserve the core of Jewish life and not have just this exclusive group where more and more people are just um being absorbed into dominant culture and not being not feeling like there's a place for them because the the walls are high if that makes sense so and I think as Messianic Jews were like totally on that same exact train of thought of like there's room for Jewish people of all backgrounds um to embrace faith in Jesus there's there's room for us as Jewish Believers and Jesus to participate in Jewish life um in our communities yeah well what would you give as a word of encouragement to those that might be seeking curious um they might be considering Jesus but they're they're kind of afraid of being labeled as you know as a Trader or a Christian now and and uh maybe deserting or or what some people like to say is uh you have um kind of abandoned uh your Jewish people I mean I I don't think I just want to say like if someone is pacing that like that's really valid and it's not um that's not something to be brushed over lightly obviously we all deeply care about um you know honoring those we love and so I think that that's that's an important thing to wrestle through um I think that the that finding truth is really worth whatever um whatever the journey is right so if you're on a journey to find truth you know stay on that journey and you know there's so many promises in the in the Hebrew scriptures of you know God's saying like if you seek me you're gonna find me right so you're not going to be ever disappointed if you go on a journey to find truth and when you when you find what you're looking for I think God will give you what you need to step into that so I don't I'm I would just would say keep going keep going on the journey and trust that when you get to those um to those moments of making hard choices that God will make it clear for you and he'll give you what you need to walk through that and and you never know sometimes um you know I've heard I've known people who were you know really concerned about that about sharing with their family about their faith in Jesus and um it is hard but I know you know sometimes they've found um restored relationships through that or you know maybe people um were upset but then came to really understand and respect this person's you know conviction I mean Jeff you've been through this so what's your what's your perspective on that uh good question um in the beginning it was it was it was amazingly elating if I could if that's a word I was elated because I've I've I was seeking Truth for 20 years and and when Yeshua showed up in my life and and brought new life into me turned me into a completely new person from one day that to the next from someone who was hopeless and suicidal to filled with joy and life um I couldn't wait to tell everybody but then I I like it could hear the the tires screeching I went uh oh everybody includes my parents and my brothers you know and and you know how are they going to react and and it's not going to be good because I've I know the history of my family and what they thought of Christians and Catholics and so forth and the experiences that they had with uh my mom when she was younger with Catholics and stuff and and so I said okay uh I have to talk about this because this completely changed my my entire life um and my my psychology and my emotions and everything and so I went through it and at first it was very difficult I met with a lot of opposition a lot of questions and over time um what happened was my my parents especially they saw the change in in my life and they couldn't help but Rejoice over that because they saw who I was before the life that I was leading and then what was happening after faith in Yeshua and they said well we may not believe in this and we may never believe in it however what's happened to you is amazing and so we don't necessarily agree with it but we support it and so that that's been a gradual change over the last you know five six years wow no it's taken time um and also it's renewed connections with my old childhood friends that are Christians and I remember one of my best friends I I call them up like the day after I came to Faith I was like hey you'll never believe it you'll never believe it because he knows I was Jewish but you know I've been Jewish my whole life and I I'm I came to Faith in Yeshua he changed my life and uh he said and I said why didn't you ever tell me oh you know because he's a Believer and he says well because I thought you were Jewish and and you have your you know your own thing and I didn't want to offend you or anything and I said wow you know it's it's the best thing that ever happened to me so it my my experience has been um filled with positive experiences negative experiences challenges and and but The more I've uh I've taken a deep dive into scripture because my whole life before that was feelings based and I didn't want my um faith in Jesus to be feelings based only I wanted it to be right yeah I wanted to love God with my mind and so um the Deep dive into scripture has only strengthened my faith and the Deep dive not in just to the New Testament into the Tanakh which not only shows The Human Condition but points towards the solution to our our problems which is uh you know Jesus himself and Faith that's been kind of a small um explanation of what my experience has been like that and and I go on the streets I talk to Israelis all the time about Venus I want them to to to know who he is based on scripture not based on tradition or you know what they might have been taught by those that may have never read the New Testament yeah wow I mean thanks for sharing all that Jeff it reminded me as you were talking about you know a few of us um in our team here in juice for Jesus have been doing a study on Psalm 84 and it's so interesting to look at these Psalms these like songs that David wrote about going up to Jerusalem to worship but then it's like well we went through the valley and we experienced God we you know experienced these hardships on the road and God was there and so there's this irony that like by the time you arrive to meet with God you already met with God because he met you on the journey all the way every step of the journey right and so I think your story is a testament to that and I definitely would encourage anyone who's watching this who's on a faith Journey by just saying God shows up in the journey not but and in the destination but you know consider how he might meet you just take the next step and he's gonna be there and you're gonna um experience him all along the way in unexpected ways and that's really what faith is right it's trusting that God's gonna show up in the journey very well said and to that point we'll just wrap it up and I just want to thank you Arielle Randall so much for being here with us it was very stimulating I enjoyed this conversation uh immensely yeah thanks thanks Jeff always great to chat with you you too understanding different faiths and perspectives is a crucial step towards Building Bridges of Tolerance and respect in our diverse world if you have any more questions or would like to continue this conversation please feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us at our website at jewsforjesus.org where you can find loads of information and even chat with us anonymously in our live chat you can also follow us on Facebook Instagram and Tick Tock and may you all find peace hope and everlasting life in our Messiah Yeshua

Channel: Jews for Jesus

Views: 33,102

Keywords: messianic jew, jewish, christian, judaism, christianity, jesus testimony, christian testimony, jesus, how to be christian, faith interviews, yeshua, God testimony, God, Religion, messianic judaism, messiah

Id: 7VTfPPt9Id8

Length: 22min 48sec (1368 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 21 2023