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Are Jewish believers in Jesus a recent phenomenon or a historic trend?

By Ben Volman

Since Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire around 325 CE, the Jewish people have struggled to survive centuries of prejudice and condemnation.

Christianity, when it was first recognized by Rome, had already rejected its Jewish roots and its debt to the Jewish people. A long, bitter winter descended on the relationship between the Church and Israel. For centuries, Jewish people were horribly persecuted and often forced to give up their identity. Others made the choice to convert for economic or social gain.

But even throughout these centuries, there have been Jewish individuals who made an authentic, personal decision to follow Yeshua as Messiah. Today, as in the past, those who believe in Yeshua came from every area of Jewish life - including both men and women of every level of education, background, and religious heritage, including those who were Orthodox.

There's Kabbalah – and There's Kabbalah

Have you heard about Madonna's recent visit to Israel? It was well covered in a New York Times story dated September 20, where she is quoted as saying, "I'm here as a student of Kabbalah.... A kabbalist believes that he or she has the responsibility to make the world a better place." *

Traveling as the featured attraction among 2,000 members of the Los Angeles Kabbalah Center who toured Israel during the High Holy Days, Madonna was the object of so much adulation that she was unable to move freely enough to visit most of the holy sites she had intended to see. The story goes on to say that she took part in Kabbalah sessions in her hotel's conference room, "which was converted into a synagogue, with segregated men's and women's sections."

As may be expected, her presence touched off a firestorm of controversy.

A Jewish View of John 3

By Scott N.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem observing the Passover, many began to follow Him, seeing the miraculous signs he performed (John 2:23). The crowds following Jesus and His purification of the Temple courtyard caused quite a commotion and piqued the curiosity of Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees and a member of the ruling council known as the Sanhedrin (3:1). Nicodemus approached Jesus seeking answers, because he believed the miracles signified that Jesus was a teacher who had come from God (3:2).

Jesus responds to Nicodemus' inquiry by explaining that no individual can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born from above, which also means born again (3:3). Nicodemus obviously thought Jesus was speaking about physical rebirth, when he asked how it is possible for a man to enter into his mother's womb a second time (3:4).

The Days of Awe and Repentance in Judaism

By Alan Shore

Cultures all over the world keep track of time - from seconds to millennia. The New Year is often seen as a time to mark the turning of a new leaf, and in this respect Judaism is no different. For Judaism, however, the New Year is also accompanied by deep reflection about one's relationship with God and other people.

The Evil and Good Inclinations in Judaism

By Alan Shore

Judaism does not have a single, unified theory about the origin of good and evil. The Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) understood the brokenness of the universe to be the result of shattered vessels that had proven too weak to hold the primordial light present in the act of creation, and believe that evil developed from the resulting imbalance in the cosmos. Although Judaism in general rejects the Christian concept of "original sin," something very close to this idea is found in kabbalistic thinking, which posits that all created souls have been affected by Adam's failure to complete the assigned task of gathering the final, stray sparks of the shattered vessels that would have set the universe right.

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