An absurdity to be challenged

Regarding “Will Israel ever accept Messianic Jews?” (Frontlines, December 15) by Tamara Zieve, I have some thoughts and questions.

Most Jews think that if you believe in Jesus, you have willingly converted to Christianity and therefore are no longer a Jew. But this is not true. Jewish believers in Yeshua (his original, Hebrew name) in no way intend to stop being Jewish; they celebrate the Jewish feasts, they serve in the IDF, they love Israel, and most are much more connected to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob than they were before they believed.

As the piece points out, there are about 350,000 “Messianic Jews” (Jewish followers of Yeshua) in the world, and about 20,000 in Israel. I am one.

Yeshua was condemned and crucified because he claimed he was the Jewish messiah. He said he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. The sign above his cross said “Yeshua of Nazareth, king of the Jews.” He was born a Jew and he died a Jew.

He came to his own (the Jews) and was rejected, as foretold in Isaiah 53: “He was despised and rejected of men. He was a man of sorrows, and we esteemed him not.”

According to Israel’s Law of Return, if one can prove he or she has one Jewish grandparent, he or she is eligible for aliya. What this person believes should be his or her personal business. Certainly he or she would have been sent to the gas chambers – the Nazis did not ask what you believed.

Is a member of Chabad who believes that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the messiah not considered a Jew? If a Jew is a Buddhist, a new-ager or an atheist, is he or she not considered a Jew? Why is it that only if you believe Yeshua is the messiah you are not Jewish?

Israel claims to be a democratic country yet has ostracized those who believe in Yeshua, saying they are not Jews. This is an absurdity and it needs to be challenged.

TERRI MOREY Poriya Illit