Every one of us involved in Messianic
ministry has thought long and hard on the question of
the place of rabbinic tradition in Messianic Judaism.
My own thinking has developed gradually over the last
few years, but I would like to share with you why I have
come to the conclusion that rabbinic traditions have little
or no place in our private lives or public services. Let
me say first, however, that even though I have given myself
to much prayer, study, and discussion over this very issue,
I want each of you to consider the arguments I present
and then to arrive at your own conclusion.
I’m going to divide this talk into three main areas:
Biblical Truth, Spiritual Life, and Integrity of Witness.
I. Biblical Truth
It is important to understand that the
word “tradition” can have at least two different
connotations, one positive (in the sense of “divinely
transmitted truth”), the other negative (in the
sense of “man-made religious institutions or regulations”).
An example of the positive sense is Paul’s exhortation
to the Thessalonians to keep the “traditions”
which he delivered to them (2 Thes. 3:6); an example of
the negative sense is Yeshua’s warning in Mat. 15:3
that the Pharisee’s broke God’s commandments
for the sake of their traditions, that is, “the
traditions of the elders” (v. 2).
Let me state clearly that the very best rabbinic traditions
are still man-made, and as far as man-made religion goes,
Yeshua spoke with unmistakable clarity: “That which
is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. . . . And the flesh [i.e., human effort]
profits nothing. It is the Spirit that gives life”
(John 3:6, 6:63). If we are going to worship and serve
God in the Spirit, flesh-born traditions can only get
in the way. It is in this vein that Paul asked the Judaized
Galatians: “After beginning with the Spirit, are
you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”
(Gal. 3:3b). And so Yeshua contrasted the Pharisee’s
humanly derived authority with His own divinely ordained
authority by saying: “God said this . .
. but you say that.” (Mat. 15:4-5).
Now the point I am making is simple: If we think that
we are entering into spiritual life by means of man-made
traditions, then we are sadly wrong. While it is one thing
to follow the rabbinic calendar as a matter of covenience,
it is another thing entirely to pray the prayers of the
rabbis or utilize their varied religious expressions and
methods.
Although the Siddur may be filled with much beauty, it
is utterly devoid of New Covenantal truth. The Siddur
gives no hint of the fact that we are already
forgiven, that Messiah’s healing blood has already
been shed, and that He has already risen from
the grave, ascended to heaven, and sent the Spirit to
dwell within us and empower us. Its prayers speak nothing
of our personal and intimate relationship with Abba,
and their high and lofty tone is often equal to distant
and far off.
Frankly, when I pray the Siddur during worship services,
or when I intensively study the Talmud or the Legal Codes
from which many of the traditions come, I am keenly aware
of the fact that rabbinic Judaism is a religion alien
to the New Covenant faith. Also, the exclusive emphasis
on the chosenness of Israel through the Torah to the exclusion
of the Gentiles is certainly inappropriate in a New Covenant
community of believers.
I would also note that very little of the Siddur can be
positively dated to the first century, and much of it,
excluding of course, pure biblical material, is very late.
Yet even if it could be argued that there are in fact
some pre-Yeshuic prayers, the point is still the same.
None of these prayers reflect the new spiritual realities
brought about by Yeshua’s death and resurrection
and the subsequent outpouring of the Spirit. As for the
prayers written by the later rabbis, and in consideration
of the fact that prayer is the most intimate thing that
a human being can do with God, how can we pray the prayers
of men whose very faith presupposes that Yeshua is not
the Messiah?
Yeshua taught that new wine could only be contained in
new wineskins, since if it was poured into old wineskins
it would break them and be spilled out onto the ground,
ruining both the wine and the wineskins. The nineteenth
century rabbi Moses Sofer, nicknamed the Hatam Sofer,
coined the phrase hadash ’asur min-hattorah
- “Anything new is forbidden by the Torah,”
thus the older a thing is, the better it is (see his responsa,
Yoreh Deah, no. 19; Orah Hayyim, no.
28; Even HaEzer, no. 29; cited by Louis Jacobs,
A Tree of Life, 255f.). I believe that this phrase,
although of relatively recent date, accurately reflects
the spirit of rabbinic Judaism, setting it in stark contrast
to our Messianic faith. Our emphasis on the new
covenant, the new creation, and the new
song that God has put in our mouths bursts out of the
bounds of the old wineskins of tradition.
While it is possible that the very first disciples lived
in harmony with some customs of their people, this really
has nothing to do with a believer today following rabbinic
tradition. Although some of rabbinic Judaism’s roots
are pre-Yeshuic, for the most part it is a religion developed
after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., and more
particularly, after the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem
in 135 C.E. Since that time the rabbinic expression has
gone its own way, with its Talmud-centered life orientation
and its massive legal system. Because the early Mishnaic
sages were not the true heirs of the biblical-prophetic
faith, it was inevitable that, as the Messianic faith
began to flourish, a split would have to come.
While we have much common ground with our people today
(as Jews in a largely non-Jewish world), we must never
forget that, as far as our walk with God goes, life in
the Spirit is not consonant with expressions of the flesh.
There is a qualitative spiritual difference between
the Messianic faith and the Rabbinic faith.
II. Spiritual Life
Let me move on to the subject of spiritual
life. First I must say that before I had ever attended
a Messianic service of any kind, I was warned by the Spirit
of God that “the whole Jewish temptation is in the
soul realm. It will fascinate, stimulate, complicate,
suffocate.” Of course, you are free to accept this
or reject this as a word from the Lord, but I have seen
many dear believers fall into this very trap. It may begin
with a fascination with midrashic stories or rabbinic
sayings, or it may take on the form of a soulish affectation
for the Siddur or for some rabbinic Shabbat customs. But
soon life is not as simple as it used to be! Questions
of Messianic halakha seem to dominate, and side issues
like how we can incorporate rabbinic traditions in our
celebration of the Feasts become central. Pretty soon
the believer finds himself spiritually stifled, praying
less in the life of the Spirit, witnessing less to Jewish
souls for fear of saying the wrong thing in the wrong
way, and praising Yeshua less and less.
What has happened? We have gotten our eyes off of Yeshua
and onto religious forms. And for many, the problem has
been an overemphasis on the mind and academic study coupled
with an underemphasis on prayer and life in the Spirit.
Rabbinic Judaism, with its stress on study and intellectual
prowess, and with the soulish beauty of many of its customs,
has lured some believers away from the simplicity of their
faith in Yeshua.
Of course, I recognize that there are many challenging
problems for those of us who understand our need to recover
our true biblical roots, and I myself have spent many
hours pursuing issues such as Messianic halakha and the
like. Yet what I am saying is extremely important to hear:
To the extent that we do not draw our nourishment
and life from the true vine, we are going to die.
As Yeshua said: “NO BRANCH CAN BEAR FRUIT BY ITSELF;
IT MUST REMAIN IN THE VINE . . . APART FROM THE VINE YOU
CAN DO NOTHING. IF ANYONE DOES NOT REMAIN IN ME, HE IS
LIKE A BRANCH THAT IS THROWN AWAY AND WITHERS”
(John 15:1-6).
Please understand this. As I began to attend Messianic
services, and then as a member of Beth Messiah Congregation
in Rockville, I was decidedly neutral on the
whole question of rabbinic tradition in our services and
personal lives. In fact, I was ready and willing to embrace
these things to the extent that they were not in clear
opposition to faith in Yeshua. And in times past I have
argued for our right to observe these customs and pray
these prayers if we so desired. However, I am now certain
that in our emphasis on solidarity with the Jewish community
(and that has unfortunately meant to many of us, solidarity
with rabbinic traditions), we have retreated from emphasizing
the centrality of the True Vine and our uniqeness in Him.
It is one thing to have our faith grounded in Torah and
focused on Yeshua; it is another thing to follow rabbinic
traditions.
Let me be more specific. Why is there no evidence of real
spiritual revival in most all of our congregations? (And
when I say revival, don’t think that I mean some
kind of worked up Pentecostal Charismania. What I mean
is a major influx of Jewish men and women into the Kingdom,
and a powerful evidence of the Spirit’s work in
our midst.) Why are there churches with thousands of solid
believers, and in some cases, hundreds of Jewish believers,
while the biggest congregations we can speak of have only
several hundred? If you say, “Mike, you’re
being unfair. We’re still brand new, in our infancy,”
then I would respond by saying that this is the very time
that we should be showing our greatest signs of vitality
and life!
Our movement has written almost no new songs that exalt
the finished work of the Messiah or the power of His blood.
Simply stated, we have had a Jewish fixation instead of
a Jesus fixation. In fact, I have been in numerous Messianic
worship services where Yeshua was not mentioned in song
even once. I have counted the choruses found in some of
our Messianic songbooks and discovered on occasion that
while songs about Jerusalem and Zion are commonplace,
songs exalting Yeshua have numbered as few as one in ten!
What is our glory? The Cross! Where is our power? The
Name of Yeshua! Where has our proclamation fallen short?
THE CROSS AND THE NAME!!
Let me make a strong statement. If we are spiritually
more at home with a prayer written by a traditional rabbi
then with a great hymn written by a committed Gentile
believer then our orientation is dangerously wrong. Isn’t
this why many of our congregations are spiritually anemic,
because we have not cooperated with the Father’s
central purpose, i.e., “that in everything Yeshua
might have the supremacy” (Col. 1:18)? Didn’t
Yeshua teach us that as He was lifted up, He would draw
all men to Him (John 12:32)? And in the limited time that
we have for our public services, can we justify the inclusion
of material that knowingly leaves Yeshua out?
In the busyness of our lives, do we have room for prayers
and customs devoid of the Spirit of God?
I believe that we have been misled into thinking that
we cannot identify with our people outside of rabbinic
tradition. In fact, some of you listening may have already
concluded that I am saying: “Throw away your Jewishness!
Quit praying for Israel! Who needs Torah anyway?”
But that is absolutely not what I intend to get
across. My point instead is this: What real connection
is there between our life in Yeshua the Messiah and the
traditions of those whose faith is built upon His rejection?
Yeshua said that His truth was from above, hidden from
the wise and prudent and revealed to babes (John 3:31.
8:23; Mat. 11:25). Yet a leading rabbinic scholar said:
“Let the truth emerge from the earth. The truth
be as the sages decide with the human mind” (Aryeh
Leib, introduction to his Kesot HaHoshen on Hoshen
Mishpat, quoted by Berkovitz, Not in Heaven,
55). How can we harmonize these words?
I can only say that Biblical Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism
are two very different faiths. One is based on the once
and for all sacrifice of the Lamb of God; the other has
substituted prayer, repentance, and good deeds. One is
based on the witness of the indwelling Spirit and the
revelation of the divine Word; the other is based on logical
deduction and human tradition. One is based on the demonstration
of the power of the living God; the other is based on
majority rule. One releases its people into a free expression
of praise, adoration, and prayer; the other legislates
when and how to pray, and even what to say.
It is a plain fact that the Jewish people who have been
the most devoted to rabbinic orthopraxy have been the
hardest to win to the Lord, and the early rabbis associated
with the beginnings of traditional Judaism were those
who most clearly rejected the Messianic faith. Many of
our Orthodox people who have come to know Yeshua as Lord
have first become disoriented with their traditional
faith and only subsequently received the Messiah.
Why is this? Because the rabbinic religion is contrary
to the Gospel, in content and in spirit. And if you might
say, “I believe that there are features of Rabbinic
Judaism which can be redeemed with some effort,”
I would reply, “Why look for silver amidst the dross
when there’s plenty of pure gold to be found?”
Should we wear a Tallit in our services? Obviously, this
is a matter of personal and/or congregational conviction.
But realize this: If we do it as a religious duty or service,
remember that we are wearing a garment that does not
fulfill the Scriptural requirements for the fringes (because
it lacks the color blue and it is not part of our regular
daily clothing), and we are putting on something whose
intricate fabric of knots and strands reminds us of just
how far the rabbis have gone in legislating religious
life.
Should we light the Shabbat candles and pray the traditional
prayer? Again, this is a matter to be decided individually.
But I have always wondered why we have taken over a traditional
custom, prayed an untrue prayer (viz., that God has commanded
us to light the candles, although I realize that many
Messianic Jews have revised that part), and then tried
to fit Yeshua in as the “light of the world”!
What has any of this got to do with the Sabbath? How does
this highlight the true rest that we now have in Yeshua?
And if we are seeking to honor Torah, why are we lighting
a fire after dark on Friday night?
III. Integrity of Witness
All this leads me to my last point, viz.,
integrity of witness. You may say, “I agree with
you completely. There is no spiritual life in rabbinic
tradition. I only do this to be a Jew to the Jews.”
But is it really working? Are we really doing what Paul
spoke of in 1 Corinthians 9?
Over the years I have been very friendly with a number
of rabbis, some Orthodox and others Conservative. Their
primary complaint with Messianic Judaism was that it was
deceptive and superficial. While they were willing to
talk to me about Yeshua, they were deeply upset with Messianic
Jews.
I believe that their charges are basically correct, although
it has never been our intent to be deceptive in the least,
and I am sure our motives have been pure. Let me try to
explain this to you from the rabbinic perspective.
Traditional Rabbinic Judaism is just that: the Judaism
based on rabbinic traditions. These traditions, recognized
by the Orthodox as being providentially transmitted and
developed through 3500 years of Torah history, are considered
to be the very essence of Jewish life. They are binding
on all who recognize the authority of the rabbis. That’s
why, from a traditional perspective, it is totally sacrilegious
and almost blasphemous to follow one custom, revise another
law, and then discard whatever other traditions we choose.
Doing this violates the very essence of rabbinic halakha
which seeks to legislate a Jew’s life before God
from his first waking moments to his midnight meditations.
What are we saying to the rabbinic community (and let’s
face it, if we want to influence our people, we must influence
the rabbis) when we pick and choose from the traditional
liturgy in our services, wear talliyot on Friday
night, and walk around donning yarmulkes while eating
at Macdonalds? Can’t you see how offensive this
is? Instead of drawing attention to Yeshua, it diverts
attention to side issues. We have unwittingly been guilty
of making a mockery of the Oral Law by accepting a few
of its traditions while rejecting almost all of its authority
and relevance. Believe me, Rabbinic Judaism is an all
encompassing religion, dealing with every possible area
of a Jewish person’s life. It takes years of study
for a newcomer to traditional Judaism to learn even the
basics! And we’re still mispronouncing “Messiah”
and “Holy Spirit” in Hebrew. Who are we fooling?
Yes, let us boldly proclaim the true Jewishness of our
faith. But why run roughshod over traditional sensitivities
with our piecemeal borrowing of that which is sacred to
them? As for our non-traditional Jewish friends, why are
we trying to win them with tradition? Why put forth mixed
signals as to who we really are?
How would we feel if a new group came to us and said:
“Don’t think that we don’t believe in
Yeshua. We do! In fact, we sing ‘He is Lord’
in our services. Of course, we also believe that Krishna
is Lord, and that Sun Moon is Lord too!” We wouldn’t
be impressed! We’d say that they were a cult, plain
and simple. But that’s how we appear to the Jewish
community. It’s hard for them to take us seriously.
Our public services give one impression and our private
lives give another. What message are we conveying? And
when we call our leaders “Rabbi” (and please
don’t get angry with me – listen to my heart),
aren’t we unnecessarily provoking the rabbinic community,
especially when some of our men can’t even read
and understand Hebrew, let alone identify the Six Orders
of the Mishnah? But that is the very thing that “Rabbi”
means to our people – the learned spiritual leader
of the community, expert in all matters of Jewish law
and interpretation.
It’s also interesting that among the early Jewish
believers, as far as I know, the title “Rav”
or “Rabbi” was never used for the teaching
elders, even though it was widely used in traditional
circles. And, if you would like to do some research, see
if you can find any evidence at all that these first Messianic
Jews (generally called Nazaraeans) were ever accused by
the Church Fathers of keeping any rabbinic traditions.
This point is important! Sooner or later we will have
to realize that being Jewish does not mean being rabbinic.
Let me turn closer to home. I am now the head of a Messianic
Yeshiva, yet I’ve lost some friends in the Orthodox
community because they feel that the name “Yeshiva”
is deceptive. And I understand their point. In the Jewish
community Yeshiva has a certain meaning. A newly saved
Orthodox Rabbi from Israel came to me in Maryland and
said that we didn’t have a true Yeshiva. The name
meant something specific to him, and if effective communication
is our goal, then let’s be sensitive to using words
super-charged with emotion. Maybe our school should be
called “Messiah Study Center”, or “Messiah
Training Center”? I’m open to suggestions,
seriously. [In 1989, the school name was changed to Messiah
Biblical Institute and Graduate School of Theology.]
But I need to close now. It will be up to all of us to
work through these issues and decide for ourselves. I
recognize your right to have your own definite convictions.
I hope you recognize my right to have mine!
Yet my point is simple and clear: I believe that the Word
of God is our Guide, that the Spirit of God is our Teacher,
and that we have a huge task set before us: the salvation
of our people Israel and our personal faithfulness to
God’s call. Rabbinic tradition can only get in the
way of fulfilling that call. In fact, two of our leaders
have independently come to the conclusion that the phenomenon
of Messianic Jews praying rabbinic prayers is like the
children of Israel defeating their enemies at war and
then turning around and worshiping their idols! Strong
words, for sure; but filled with truth nonetheless.
In John 16:2 Yeshua told us that we would be put out of
the synagogues for our faith, and tragically this has
been the case. Yet there is a change in the air and something
new is happening. But it is not time for us to bring rabbinism
into the Body, nor is it time for us to seek reentry into
the traditional camp. Rather, as we go to Yeshua “outside
the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore” (Hebrews
13:13) it is time for the synagogue to come to us.
