CCAR RESPONSA
Contemporary American Reform Responsa
66. Children of “Messianic
Jews”
QUESTION: A couple previously affiliated with a “Messianic
Jewish” congregation has returned and affiliated with my Congregation and became quite active. The children are enrolled in religious school and are doing well in school. Recently, l found out that the couple had not actually abandoned their “Messianic Jewish” conviction. They hope, in fact, that the rabbi and the remainder of the congregation would eventually adopt their philosophy. May this couple be permitted to continue as members of my congregation? How should we treat their children who are currently enrolled in religious school and seem to be normative Jews? (Rabbi N. Cohen, St. Louis Park, MN)
ANSWER: The Responsa
Committee has dealt with the question, ‘”Status of a Completed Jew in the Jewish Community.” It indicates that such individuals should be treated as apostates. They have become apostates willingly without the duress frequently felt in the medieval period; we should, therefore, take the strictest position of our tradition toward them (see also “Apostate Proselyte,” W. Jacob, American Reform Responsa # 71). We should follow the suggestions of the previously cited responsum.
“We can not, and should not, exclude such individuals from
attendance at services, classes or any other activity of the community, for we always hold the hope that they will return to Judaism and disassociate themselves from Christianity, but they should be seen as outsiders who have placed themselves outside the Jewish community. This should be made very clear to them and to the Jewish and general community especially as many such individuals are active proselytizers.
Such individuals should not be accorded
membership in the congregation or treated in any way which makes them appear as if they were affiliated with the Jewish community, for that poses a clear danger to the Jewish community and its relationships with the general community. We certainly do not want these individuals to speak for Judaism in any public forum.
In conclusion, we should make the distinction
between ourselves and these individuals very clear to them, to the Jewish community and the general community around us.”
In the question you have asked, the matter is
somewhat complicated by the children who are enrolled in the religious school, and appear to be normative Jews. We should continue to permit the enrollment in religious school and do our best to raise them as Jews. It may be necessary to arrange a school membership, or other category with equivalent dues, but without the parents being considered members of the congregation. Similar situations have arisen in the case of a Christian widow of an intermarriage who wishes to continue to raise her children as Jews. There the congregation arranged for a special category for this individual and her children.
In other words, we should not deprive the children
of a Jewish education. On the other hand, we should not permit the parents to proselytize, openly or quietly, within the congregation, or to be considered as normative Jews, either within or outside the Jewish community.
July 1984
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.