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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "NON-ASSIMILATIONIST"?
Some organizations and some individual congregations who call themselves "Messianic" are financed, often heavily, by local or national Christian organizations or congregations. Jewish people who believe that Yeshua is Ha Meshiach through the efforts of these organizations are frequently subjected to a process of stripping them of all pride and concern for their Jewish heritage. It is taught, either through subtle insinuation or an open assault, that they must become "Christians," with all the cultural baggage of what passes for modern "Christianity", in order to accept Yeshua as the Messiah. They are taught to forsake the Shabbot, abandon the Holy Day Observances, and eat non-Kosher foods. While many of these congregations or organizations have an appearance of maintaining a Jewish or "Messianic" flavor to their services, the final effect of their doctrine and teaching serves the purpose of stripping Jews of their Jewishness, their distinctively Jewish view on life, and causing them to assimilate within the larger body of Gentile Christianity. This is the type of attitude which we refer to as "Assimilationist." WE ARE NOT ASSIMILATIONISTS! - We DO NOT make any attempt to get Jews to modify their Jewish approach to life. We do not ask them to compromise their devotion to their heritage. We do NOT ask them to do anything to make themselves culturally more acceptable to a set of "Christian" cultural sensibilities which have no real basis in the scriptures. We are NON-ASSIMILATIONISTS - we stand firmly against any teaching which assumes that Jews must abandon their identity as Jews or their Jewish heritage in order to be acceptable to G*d in Ha Meshiach. If we were to be accused of anything, it might be that we come closer to being "DE-ASSIMILATIONISTS". Most of the Jews who attend Messiah Assembly are people raised in homes with a vague or hidden sense of a Jewish heritage, but in which a vibrant and vitally Jewish approach to life had been abandoned, often by parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents who were trying to avoid Anti-semitism. Many of these people are ill at ease, uncomfortable, and distressed by the many signs of latent anti-semitism they often see in the Christian Churches or Fellowships they attend. If they object to these anti-semitic statements or elements they find deeply embeded in modern day Christianity, they are told to quit being so sensitive and picky. Our message to these people is simple - YOU CAN REMAIN WHO YOU ARE AND STILL FIND SOLACE, COMFORT, AND SALVATION IN YESHUA! COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM! We are constantly moving towards becoming more "Jewish" in our lifestyle, not less. We are moving towards being more Jewish in our manner and form of worship - not less. We are moving towards becoming more Torah Observant, not less. We are seeking to be people who have the Torah pour out of our lives as a living testament to the Righteousness of Ha Shem. We want this to happen because it has been written deeply in the flesh of our hearts. WE WANT MORE OF TORAH - NOT LESS. Make no mistake - we believe that Yeshua, commonly called Jesus by Gentile Christians, both was and is the Messiah. The big difference between us and what we see in much of modern Christianity is that we do not believe that this one thing we hold in common with "Christianity" either requires or allows us to treat our families, our heritage, and our birth-right with anything less than the profound respect it deserves. We categorically reject the common Gentile Christian doctrine which says that "the church" has replaced the nation of Israel in God's end time plans. We reject, ardently, loudly, and passionately, any system of belief which oppenly states, subtly suggests, or even hints at the idea that there is no longer a special place in G*d's plan for Jews.
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