From the editor – Issue 36

By Russ Resnik

Identity and community are inextricably linked. As one writer recently put it, “Patterns of conduct and virtue exist independently of any individual, and the most important parts of personal identity often emerge not as a result of private thinking but in groups that do and love the same things.”1 We discover who we are not…

“I Will Dwell Among Them”: The Shekhinah and the People of God in Midrash

By Carl Kinbar

Midrash is a genre of Tanakh commentary produced by our sages in the Land of Israel in the centuries following the Hurban, the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.1 It consists of comments on a broad range of halakhic, theological, narrative, homiletic, ethical, and other issues in the Tanakh. Halakhic Midrash forms its…

Jewish Identity and Faith in Yeshua, Part 2

By Jonathan Allen

In the first part of this article we looked at some of the ways in which identity—Jewish identity in particular—is formed and shaped. In this second part of the article, we are going to briefly recap the importance of social identity and social memory theory and then consider what the research data says about how…

Messianic Jewish Communities by Design: Open Doors and Reserved Seating

By Paul L. Saal

Discussing community definitively within 21st century Western culture is both an elusive and daunting task. Narrowing this exploration to Messianic Jewish congregational structures feels almost insurmountable. To do so will require an approach that is both descriptive and prescriptive. It must consider the host culture, the unique historical time, and the nature of the constituency,…

260 Years in the Making: The Origins of Canadian Messianic Judaism

By Daniel F. Jonathan Nessim

The origins of Messianic Judaism in Canada comprise a story that begins in oppression, continues as a spark in the lives of key Jewish believers and grows into a small flame before the Shoah, until a reigniting in the Boomer generation. It is a significant story, because it sits between the poles of American and…

Between and Among Communities of Faith

By David Wein

It was Groucho Marx who said, “I wouldn’t want to be a part of any club that would have me as a member.” I feel like I can relate to this. For the Jewish people, identity and community are interconnected. The nature of being part of Kol Israel connects us to the wider Jewish community…

Rediscovering My Gentile Roots

By Joseph Culbertson

Holiness Beginnings Growing up in the Wesleyan holiness tradition, the son of a Nazarene pastor, I learned early on that there were certain standards of behavior in our community. I also learned fairly quickly that there was flexibility around the edges of these standards. Many of the guidelines that had been strictly observed in our…

Book Review

The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament: Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik’s Commentary to the Gospels Edited, with an introduction and commentary, by Shaul Magid

By Russ Resnik

Reviewed by Russ Resnik Jesus is Jewish—it’s a truism not just in Messianic Jewish circles, but also in the wider worlds of biblical and historical scholarship. Use of the name “Yeshua” rather than “Jesus” reflects this truth. The open question, though, is just how is Yeshua Jewish? What kind of Jew was he? The ongoing…

Book Review

Reading Romans After Supersessionism: The Continuation of Jewish Covenantal Identity by J. Brian Tucker

By Henri Louis Goulet

Reviewed by Henri Louis Goulet The clarion call of Markus Bockmuehl in 2006 to scholars of the New Covenant Scriptures was to once and for all overcome the de facto de-Judaizing of Yeshua’s person, aims, and teaching— and thus the universalizing abstractionism associated with most conventional and confessional interpretation of those Scriptures.1 The “New Testament…