Standards of Halacha

[tonga]

What "standards" do Messianics use to determine which
halachah they follow?

For Orthodox Jews, the standard is the Shulham aruch and
various rabbinic rulings.

Is there a central Messianic body that determines these
things?

[Mark]

Hi Tonga,

The term "Messianic" is about as ecclectic as the term "Reform". It can mean just about anything to anyone. And there have been a number of organizing bodies to attempt to put their hands around it.

Personally, I prefer the confusion: allowing the Spirit of Adonai to lead individuals in the direction of truth without being filtered through human agendas.

The teachings of our Messiah seem to me consistent with this where He is recorded as saying:

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
(Matthew 23:8-11 KJV)

You may find that we tend to pick and choose from rabbinical sources and from Christian teachers with broad liberality, trying to understand where truth fits within these sometimes extreme perspectives. It is amazing, though, as we look into the various writings and see the common themes and interwoven complexities. Most of the articles found at Chabad.com could easily be quoted from any Baptist podium and get "amens."

We (or at least I) believe that the pursuit of truth, the active engagement of wrestling to understand what Adonai has offered us in His Scriptures, is worth our going to the effort of finding for ourselves. When the answer is given to us with conclusive authority, I believe that we miss something in the process that is very precious. I believe we miss the opportunity to touch the mind of God.

[yeshuafreak]

we do not have a collective body of literature for messianic judaism. i can tell you however that we do have halakhic standards:

Jesus makes it clear that healing and doing good on the shabbat overrules the decision not to doo work on it. he also makes it clear that tthe shabbat is about freedom, as the other sabbaticals are (sabbatical year, jubillee, etc). the shabbat is more about providing rest for other people. there is more to this actully, but here is not the place to put a full blown discussion.

Yeshua also said "where two or three are gathered in my name, there i am also." this seems to have numerous halakhic interpretations: a mesianic minyan consits of two or three people; or two or three verses from scripture are required to form a doctrine or make a halakhic decision. other interpretations are similar.

also, Yeshua endorses the halakhic belief that circumcision overrrides shabbat.

R. Sha'ul and R. Kefa decided that fellowship with gentiles overruled kashrut laws, although you are to follow them if you can without offending others and such.

there are other interpretations.

generally, the Naarean Codicil (NT) is our body of literature that helps us determine halakhah, but it in itself is not a halakhic document. we beleive more of a "to eah his own" on halakhah. if a man wishes to follow the rabbinical halakhic works, than he may do so- but we do not see that as binding.

anymore questions and be sure to ask them... i am glad that you have a semi-objective/ objective look at this.

shalom

[Loxody]

There was a central Messianic Jewish leadership in the first century C.E. which made halachic desicions but there is not any such leadership now.



However, Messianic halachah in the first century was largely based upon traditional Jewish halachah.

[alon]

I am going to have to disagree with Mark. Let's go to a better translation and look at not only what he quoted, but what was said just before that:

Matthew 23 (ESV) 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Yeshua told them they were to do as they were instructed. Why would He then turn around and impugn their authority? He did impugn the character of those who did what they did in order to be seen by others- those who told others what to do but did not do it themselves. He also gave what amounts to a two part warning; be careful with wanting to be in a leadership position, and be extra careful who you follow and submit in authority to. Pick your leaders wisely.

Yeshua was a Pharisee. It was the Pharisees, formed in the Maccabean revolt, who put forth the idea that individuals could decide the meaning of themselves. We are in fact responsible to use discernment when told something that is possibly against scripture. And all scripture must agree with .

Dan C

[alon]

Sept 6, 2009 14:08:36 GMT -8 tonga said:

What "standards" do Messianics use to determine which
halachah they follow? ... Is there a central Messianic body that determines these
things?

For many it is as Mark said. They are sadly just on their own to either figure it out or to pick an organization or synagogue and follow their halacha. The problem is they may not have access to ask questions. I recommend to people here who are on their own to use the halacha of the parent synagogue for this forum; Synagogue Chavarut HaMashiach.

Our Rabbis generally make halacha for most of us. Some organizations do have a governing body to which the rabbis are responsible, so it isn't always a free-for-all. Syn Chavarut HaMashiach is part of the UMJA, which has a Beith Din. Remember too that a large part of the movement was not raised Jewish, so halacha can be a pretty loose concept for us; at least for now.

Hope this answered your question.

Dan C