When our private world takes precedence, we encounter such questions as “How do I relate to God as a Jew in private prayer?” and “How do I grow as a Messianic Jew in faith and spirituality?” “How does my identity as a Jew and my faith in Yeshua fit together?”
When our communal Jewish life takes precedence, we are confronted with such questions as “How do I maintain and nurture my relationship with Yeshua when I am among Jews who do not believe in him?” and “How do I, as a Yeshua-believer, act appropriately in the larger Jewish community and fulfill my communal responsibilities as a Jew?”
Lastly, Messianic Jews face a crucial question that does not confront other Jews: “How do I relate to non-Jewish Yeshua believers and the larger Body of Messiah?”
There are many voices addressing these questions today. Without specifically responding to any of these, I want to repeat Heschel’s statement that “my theme is not the problem of one Jew but of all Jews.” We cannot fully answer these questions as individuals because they do not concern us only as individuals. In the long run, they can be answered only by a community of Messianic Jews who are fully and deeply engaged with these questions.
Questions can provoke anxiety. Or superficial answers. Or a life of seeking answers as deep and whole as the questions we are confronted with.
- God in Search of Man: New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1955. Pages 420-423 (selected)
