Israel ben Betzalel

An Open Letter to Rev. Gary Sims, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC):

It has come to our attention that Messianic Jews in ODRC as reported in the Mansfield News Journal are being denied the right of access to kosher foods when all other Jews are granted access to kosher foods. This is appalling, since Messianic Jews are those who keep the Covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as written by Moses in the Torah. This includes keeping a kosher diet. One who breaks the commandments concerning clean and unclean foods, commits sin, since it is a transgression against the literal commandment of God as it is written:

Leviticus 11:43-44
43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.
44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.

Due to a misinformed understanding of Torah-observant Messianic Judaism, it appears the opposite stance was taken after some “Messianic rabbis” were consulted concerning the requirements for diet for Messianic Jews within ORDC. The scripture above should be absolutely clear that Messianic Jews who profess obedience to the Torah, are required by God to “not defile yourselves by any of these creatures” as outlined in the entire chapter of Leviticus 11.

The issue is not whether or not Messianic Jews are Jews for purpose of ODRC dietary classifications - although the majority of Messianic Jews consider themselves fully Jewish, and we at the Jerusalem Council, and other organizations would be more than happy to make the case for such a classification; however the issue is that Messianic Jews who believe they are responsible for keeping the commandments of God in the Torah, should be allowed to do so within any fair application of dietary menus provided by ODRC if others enjoy that same privilege. The issue is over the fact that some prisoners within ORDC are in fact privileged to exercise their obedience to God in the matter of keeping kosher, by claiming to be Jewish, and believing Jesus is not the Messiah; whereas those who desire to keep the commandments of God concerning diet, who believe Jesus is the Messiah, should be allowed the same treatment.

If you want the theological reasons for keeping kosher as a beliver in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, please feel free to contact us and we will be more than happy to provide all the material you need in making a fair decision, but we will be happy to share one here:

Revelation 14:12
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

Please register this compliant with the appropriate authorities within ODRC, and please reconsider allowing Messianic Jews who profess obedience to the Torah as a way of obedience to God, the means to meet their convictions concerning the matter, and thus end this unfair religious discrimination against Messianic Jewish prisoners within ODRC.

Signed,

Israel ben-Betzalel
Messianic Jewish Apologist
JerusalemCouncil.org

and the global Torah-observant Messianic Jewish community

After much study and review, we have posted a document detailing Messianic Jewish Simcha, also known as Messianic Jewish Conversion:

Messianic Jewish Simcha (Conversion)
http://jerusalemcouncil.org/conversion.html

In short, it recognizes the scriptural definitions of Covenant members, and from a Torah perspective it clearly lays out the identity of a believer in Messiah Yeshua, as being fully Jewish, even according to orthodox halakhic standards, hopefully putting to rest once and for all the 2000 year old dispute over the inclusion of believers from the nations (gentiles).

We have introduced a new page to collect and publish a list of known exclusively kosher certified and organic certified suppliers and distributors for foodstuffs. A list of acceptable kosher hechers and symbols are also provided. Check out the growing list here: http://jerusalemcouncil.org/kosher-organic.html

The Recommended Messianic Reading List is up at http://jerusalemcouncil.org/readinglist.html. Each book contains a summary review by a Messianic reader, and the books will be available for purchase soon through the online bookstore, or available for borrowing from the Messianic Jewish Library System.

Check it out:

The Jerusalem Council Discussion Group
jerusalemcouncil@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/jerusalemcouncil?hl=en

For all volunteers, members, and subscribers of JerusalemCouncil.org, its vision, and its purpose; and a global Messianic Jewish Q&A, news, and mailing list open to all.

The reports are confirmed. Messianic Jews with Jewish parentage, either mother, or father, are now allowed to make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel and become citizens of the State of Israel under the Law of Return.

Source: Jerusalem Institute of Justice

In a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court of Israel ratified a settlement between twelve Messianic Jewish believers and the State of Israel, which states that being a Messianic Jew does not prevent one from receiving citizenship in Israel under the Law of Return or the Law of Citizenship, if one is a descendent of Jews on one’s father’s side (and thus not Jewish according to halacha).

This Supreme Court decision brought an end to a legal battle that has carried on for two and a half years. The applicants were represented by Yuval Grayevsky and Calev Myers from the offices of Yehuda Raveh & Co., and their legal costs were subsidized by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.

All twelve of the applicants were denied citizenship solely based on grounds that they belong to the Messianic Jewish community. Most of them received letters stating that they would not receive citizenship because they “commit missionary activity“. One of the applicants was told by a clerk at the Ministry of Interior that because she “committed missionary activity“, she is “acting against the interests of the State of Israel and against the Jewish people“. These allegations are not only untrue, but they also do not constitute legal grounds to deny one’s right to immigrate to Israel.

This important victory paves the way for persons who have Jewish ancestry on their father’s side to immigrate to Israel freely, whether or not they belong to the Messianic Jewish community. This is yet another battle won in our war to establish equality in Israel for the Messianic Jewish community just like every other legitimate stream of faith within the Jewish world.

Various news sources are trickling in, and several blogs have reported that Supreme Court of Israel on Wednesday, overturned a previous ruling in 1989 which denied the right of return to Israel for Messianic Jews. This means that as of today, Messianic Jews of Jewish descent can immigrate to Israel.

From CBNnews.com: http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/359362.aspx

CBNnews.com (2008). Retrieved on April 17, 2008. “Myers told CBN News, “The bottom line is that if your father is Jewish or if any of your grandparents are Jewish from your father’s side - even if you’re a Messianic Jew - you can immigrate to Israel under the law of return or under the law of citizenship if you marry an Israeli citizen.””

Derek Leman’s blog has also reported being contacted by UMJC.net:

“I just received word from Jamie Cowen, the president of the UMJC (umjc.net) that the Israeli Supreme Court has reversed its decision from the late 1980’s which gives Messianic Jews no right of return to Israel.”

“In other words, the Israeli Supreme Court, for the first time, is recognizing that Messianic Jews have a right to make aliyah (citizenship in Israel), which is tantamount to recognizing Messianic Jews as Jews.”

“Furthermore, they ordered the Ministry of Interior (which has a lot of Orthodox Jewish staff who regularly make life difficult for Messianic Jews) to halt all discrimination against Messianic Jews in Israel.”

http://derek4messiah.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/breaking-news-israeli-supreme-court-allows-messianics-in/

In our opinion, this calls for a celebration as we enter into Pesach - which is the most appropriate season to remember our deliverance from Egypt, and now finally, from the Exile.

I didn’t even notice it, but on the solar year, we are one year old.:

Creation Date: 2007-03-22 15:53:49

We started out as a placeholder for the future Jerusalem Council, then migrated to a forum for discussion, and finally now are focused on discussing and discovering Messianic Halakha.

We’ve got great plans for the future.

On the Hebrew calendar, this site was registered and the first page created on the afternoon before Shavuot. With Adar II this year, we’ve got a while until we hit the 1 Hebrew year mark.

Shalom and thanks for participating!

The Global Messianic Link Directory is now up and running at http://portal.jerusalemcouncil.org. Feel free to start posting your favorite Messianic Jewish links to it, as it aims to catalogue every known Messianic website on the internet, as well as sites of interest to Messianic believers.

Known as the Jerusalem Council Blogs, when I said it was cool, I meant this is just too cool. I’ll be working on making this place a little more organized in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, if you want your own blog, go back to the blogs page and sign up for one!