Havurah

On spiritual imbalance You may have heard it called evangelistic dating.” You may have heard it called “throwing caution to the wind.” Either way, serious problems arise when believers date and marry non-believers. Perhaps you know someone who is...

Messianic Jews are a small, growing, and diverse community of believers in Jesus, living our faith in a world that fails to see us as either Jewish or Christian.

My church search was rough. I didn’t want to limit my faith. I wanted to be where the Bible was the center of the teaching, the people believed in a God who loved and cared for them. And I did not want to lose my Jewish identity.

Explain yourself! How should we talk about our faith as Messianic Jews? “What’s your religious background?” We’ve all been there – the awkward dinner party you are obliged to attend where you get drilled by a friendly guest. Or perhaps it’s in the middle seat, stuck...

You Just Found Out You’re Jewish – 3 Things You Need to Consider In an unexpected plot twist to your life, you just found out you are Jewish. You may or may not already realize that in the twenty-first century this has become quite common. For several reasons, more...

Jewish Identity in America: A History On July 11, 1883, 200 guests strolled into the luxurious banquet hall of the Highland House, atop Mt. Adams in downtown Cincinnati, towering above the Ohio River. An elegant orchestra played as lavishly dressed Jewish dignitaries...

What is interfaith? Does it describe Messianic Jewish life at all? Is an intermarried family automatically an interfaith family? Read about one mother’s experience, and her research and conclusions here.

How do you survive and thrive living far away from a Jewish cultural center, like my family does in Southern Indiana? In our town, there is a very small Jewish population, and we are the only Messianic Jews that I know of. But nurturing my own identity—and building up...

Raised Messianic: An Interview with Robert Goldschmidt When I first heard the name Robert Goldschmidt, I was not picturing the tall lanky black guy I was introduced to. But Robert perfectly captures the experience of young Jewish people today: we defy stereotypes of...

Jewish Identity: A Game of Hide and Seek A certain man walks into a Messianic congregation on Shabbat morning. He’s a total stranger, looks a little lost and, frankly, seems uninterested in what’s going on around him. The rest of us look askance at him, and, finally,...

I don’t like to brag, but I did win first place for this recipe at a Hanukkah party held by the Chicagoland-area Messianic community. What won the judges over? “We loved the onions,” they said. Latkes are traditionally eaten with homemade applesauce or sour cream, but...

This article is adapted from the original which appeared in the Winter 2012 print edition of Havurah. We are republishing it in this Tisha B’Av season. Tisha B’Av memorializes tragedies that befell the Jewish people as a nation. It is also an appropriate season to...

What Jewish Young Adults Today Have in Common with Their Parents’ Generation, and Why They Are Just as Open to The Gospel by Arielle Randle “How do we reach Millennials?” This is an important question to raise at a time when many people are analyzing the spiritual...

Someone once perceptively said, “Statistics are human beings with the tears wiped off.”

If one were to give a hard and honest look at the heritage of Israel’s heroes, one would be forced to concede that it is not a triumphant past. Moses, at his apogee, came down from a holy mountain experience only to be “welcomed” by collective and...

Suffering is international and cross-cultural. It is something that unites all human beings, because we all experience it at one point or another. Therefore, suffering is not specifically Jewish—although in Jewish history there has been a great deal of suffering. My...

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be...

From Generation to Generation: A Tale of Two Kings
by Aaron Trank

Forty years ago the world of Jewish missions was altered forever. That was when Moishe Rosen incorporated Hineni Ministries in San Francisco and began reaching out to the Jewish community with the gospel under the slogan: "Jews for Jesus."

We can find examples of disunity among God’s people throughout the Bible. But the apostles’ experiences can be particularly relevant for us. The following examples speak of three kinds of disunity: The disunity that results from overzealous, prideful...

HAVURAH: The Jewish Annotated New Testament has made quite a splash in some circles. What were your expectations as co-editor in terms of its reception and impact among Jews and Christians? Have those expectations been met so far? AMY-JILL LEVINE: Rather than thinking...

What Hanukkah Has to Show Us If you listen to the Jewish experts, they all seem to agree on one thing: one of the greatest threats to Jewish survival is assimilation.  Some say that assimilation is a result of intermarriage and are quick to point out that the rate of...

At Hanukkah, our Jewish people recite this prayer: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time. The late Vera Schlamm was a Holocaust survivor who understood such prayers. In the story of...

“Jewish believers belong in Israel!” There was an awkward moment as we mulled over the statement. Then the conversation picked up again. An Israeli Messianic leader had challenged a group of American Jewish believers about Messianic Jewish identity. His...

Havurah posed several questions to Asian-Jewish couples who are both believers in Y’shua. Below we excerpt some of their answers. For the full responses, go to http://www.jewsforjesus.org/asianjewish Oded and Bimini Cohen Havurah: What are some aspects of your...

Havurah posed five questions to several Jewish-Asian couples where both partners are believers in Jesus. The print edition of Havurah excerpted the following responses which are given here in full. What are some aspects of your spouse’s background that you found...

Not long ago, the father of my friend passed away. The family had prayed for his salvation for years. At the end, he was physically unable to respond, leaving his family uncertain whether he had ever received the gospel. Another friend prayed for his father, a...