I didn't want to start a new thread, so thought I would append this comment into this one. Hope that's okay!
This is a response from a Rabbi to a question and while it was a question not related to the Messianic "faith", I think
it is a great response.
Quote:Therefore, people who chose to "honor" aspects of Judaism in ways contrary to Jewish thought are only lying to themselves and only honoring themselves.
Judaism is all about humbling ourself before G-d.
Other "ism's" are about elevating themselves over G-d.
This exactly describes Messyantics. They copy ("Honor") all things Jewish in a way contrary to Judaism, and they are indeed only honoring themselves.
I have always felt that Messys are into the "Jewish thing" because it brings pleasure to them; much of what they copy is tradition, something not
found in the Torah.
Quote:Personally, I see it as a mockery. Most definitely the love of knowledge and the elevation of self to be more favored of God is really the bottom line.
Exactly. They feel if they are "Jewish" they are amongst the "chosen" and "favored" of G-d. Which is why so many of
them either shake the family tree hoping a few Jews will fall out, or lie about being Jewish.
Utter nonsense.
(06-28-2010 04:10 PM)sheep wrecked Wrote: [ -> ][/color] (06-28-2010 02:28 PM)SheitlQueen Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:Personally, I see it as a mockery. Most definitely the love of knowledge and the elevation of self to be more favored of God is really the bottom line.
Exactly. They feel if they are "Jewish" they are amongst the "chosen" and "favored" of G-d. Which is why so many of
them either shake the family tree hoping a few Jews will fall out, or lie about being Jewish.
Utter nonsense.
What do you think of the 2 house theory - that the gentiles are really of the tribe of Epharim and just need to "recognize" their true identies? This is pretty much why HR thinks they should keep the Law - because they are part of the "lost" tribes. 
It's nonsense, insulting and a form of identity theft.
I've seen Messies claim they are from the 10 lost tribes, or
are from "Ephraim" and are no longer gentiles but are now
"Hebrews". I asked one once how they knew they were
a "Hebrew" and they said just the fact that G-d has drawn
them to the HR movement was proof...that G-d is returning
all "Hebrews" back.
It's absoulutely nuts.
They also say Jews are descended only from the tribe of Judah.
One of them claimed that the tribe of Epharim eventually migrated
to the US and that there are a lot of "Hebrews" in the US. And
that the tribe of Dan went into Germany, as evidenced by such
German names as DANube.
It's kind of sad they so desperately want to be anything but a
gentile, so that G-d will favor them above others.
(06-29-2010 10:23 AM)SheitlQueen Wrote: [ -> ] (06-28-2010 04:10 PM)sheep wrecked Wrote: [ -> ][/color] (06-28-2010 02:28 PM)SheitlQueen Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:Personally, I see it as a mockery. Most definitely the love of knowledge and the elevation of self to be more favored of God is really the bottom line.
Exactly. They feel if they are "Jewish" they are amongst the "chosen" and "favored" of G-d. Which is why so many of
them either shake the family tree hoping a few Jews will fall out, or lie about being Jewish.
Utter nonsense.
What do you think of the 2 house theory - that the gentiles are really of the tribe of Epharim and just need to "recognize" their true identies? This is pretty much why HR thinks they should keep the Law - because they are part of the "lost" tribes.
It's nonsense, insulting and a form of identity theft.
I've seen Messies claim they are from the 10 lost tribes, or
are from "Ephraim" and are no longer gentiles but are now
"Hebrews". I asked one once how they knew they were
a "Hebrew" and they said just the fact that G-d has drawn
them to the HR movement was proof...that G-d is returning
all "Hebrews" back.
It's absoulutely nuts.
They also say Jews are descended only from the tribe of Judah.
One of them claimed that the tribe of Epharim eventually migrated
to the US and that there are a lot of "Hebrews" in the US. And
that the tribe of Dan went into Germany, as evidenced by such
German names as DANube.
It's kind of sad they so desperately want to be anything but a
gentile, so that G-d will favor them above others.
The Worldwide Church of God (Armstrongism) used to preach all of the above, in addition to saying that Ephraim and Manasseh nowadays
are the USA and the UK. They used those same things-named-after-Dan "examples". At least they were saying that when I was a member. They used the hexagram too for some reason. They never called themselves Jews, thank goodness.
addendum: I think the WWCOG was a British-Israelite group, but a lot of what they practiced and taught was identical to Messyantic practices. We had Sabbath services in the local Jewish Community Center auditorium, but we called ourselves Christians, despite observing the Jewish Feasts and eating only clean animals. Unfortunately I started wearing a Mogen David pendant, so I was playing "Jewish dress-up" too, without realizing that Christians doing this is extremely insulting to real Jews.
It's pretty kooky stuff. People are led point by point to believe this stuff. It's progressive. 