Congregation Beth El of Manhattan

Meet the Rabbi

Beth El of Manhattan is a Messianic Jewish synagogue.

We Are NOT 'Jews for Jesus' - An Explanation

This kind of congregation has the following distinctions:

1. We are a Messianic synagogue expressing Jewish customs and traditions of faith primarily in the "Conservative" model; and our main focus is the ministry of biblical truth to a primarily (but not exclusively) Jewish population.

2. We have a primary geographical focus:New York City – Manhattan in particular.

3. We embrace faith in the One G*d as described in the Jewish Scriptures, according to the most sacred of historically Jewish biblical traditions.

4. We affirm the truth of the two distinct portraits of Messiah within Jewish sacred writ: (i) the Suffering Redeemer-Messiah Scripture describes in detail (Isaiah 53), and whom Talmudic tradition calls “Messiah Son of Joseph that will be killed” (TB Sukkah 52a); (ii) as well as the Conquering and Peace-bringing Messiah whom the Sages call “Messiah Son of David.”

5. We believe the Suffering Redeemer to be the historical person Yeshua of Nazareth, whom non-Jewish faiths call by his name in Greek-translation - ‘Jesus.’ This is the primary distinctive of the term ‘Messianic’ in Messianic synagogue. We believe Messiah (as suffering redeemer) has already come (See Jewish Bible, Daniel 9:24ff); we also believe in accord with Scripture and with countless Jewish generations that Messiah is a more-than merely human personage. He was and is “the Son of God” (Psalm 2, Proverbs 30, TB Sukkah 52a, DSS 4Q246, 4Q251 et al).

6. We affirm that belief in this Nazarene Messiah Yeshua is an endemically Jewish faith at its roots. Neither Yeshua, nor any of those who followed Him in Scripture ever envisioned, advocated, or condoned faith in his Messiahship as justification for departure from the faith and customs of Israel (Matt. 5:17-19, Acts 21:18-24). Hence, we practice our faith in the context of the historic Jewish tradition, including traditional life-cycle events such as b'rit milah, b'nai mitzvah ceremonies, Jewish marriage rites, etc. Our worship is organized – as per New Testament instruction – according to the “customs of our fathers.” We see ourselves as members of the multi-millennial Jewish conversation, and when we bring revisions of practice or theory to the table, we do so with great respect for the cultural and national context Scripture enjoins upon us as Messiah-believing Jewry.

7. We acknowledge the truth that the One G*d loves more than one nation, and that His redemptive plans for humankind have always included other nations in a manner totally respecting their uniqueness. (Isaiah 49:6, Ephesians 3:14-15) These nations are not under a requirement to ‘convert’ to Jewish identity to experience G*d's redemption through His Messiah. (Acts 21:25) G*d's agenda is not the homogenizing of our species.

We affirm that our Scriptures declare there will be people from outside the Jewish nation who experience differing degrees of ‘calling’ to participate with the Jewish nation's destiny – and we seek to embrace each of those manifold and distinct kinds of calling in a manner appropriate to its individual nature.

8. We affirm that both Testaments of Jewish Scripture require active commitment to spread understanding of the One G*d's existence, His love for Humankind, and His offer of redemption from the temporal and eternal devastations wrought in human lives by the powers of deception and of sin (Psalm 96:3-5).