Any Hebrew Catholics here?

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MysticMonist

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Shalom,

I was hoping to see if there are any hebrew Catholics or someone familiar with them I could ask some advice from?

I am not Jewish but have been studying Judiasm and was planning to convert at one time. That didn’t work out but I still have a deep love of hebrew and some of the observances. After reading St John of the Cross, I’ve decided im going to discern about converting to Catholicism. I’m currently episicopalian and unfillfilled by the Protestant church.
 
Shabat shalom!

You may care to take a look as this earlier thread, which closed a few days ago:
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Looking for fellow Jewish converts who are now Traditional Catholics Non-Catholic Religions
I had some dealings with them so am familiar with their theology. Its basically pentecostal theology, with a Jewish flavor and sometimes keeping feastdays (the key here is they keep thefeastdays as an optional thing, not necessary for salvation…whereas real Jews believe they receive salvation by carrying out the demands of the Torah.) “Messianic Judaism” originally was called Hebrew Christianity. It evolved out of protestant missions to the Jews which often created a small worship area in thei…
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You should reach out for Simcha Fisher, she is a pretty well known Catholic American author and all her family converted from Judaism.
 
Thanks, I forgot it was Shabbat. So I’ll wait till the weekend is over before I reply more. I do know a decent amount about the Hebrew Catholic movement but I wanted to see it anyone had first hand experience.

(Some Jews might not use electronics on Saturday so they’d be unavailable right now and I’ve moved my observance of the sabbath to Sunday so I won’t be be online after that).
 
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You can reach out to Roy Schoeman, salvationisfromthejews.com

He is in good standing with the Church, and unlike the other, wasn’t fired from NCRegister for inappropriate posts on social media.
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I really liked his book. That is good advice to contact him.
I also was Episcopalian and had a desire to learn more about Judaism. I studied Judaism for about 10 months in the synagogue, but also did not convert. I joined the Catholic church instead.
Good luck learning more about the Hebrew Catholics.
 
I was just curious to meet other Catholics of Jewish heritage, not necesarily those belonging to a “Hebrew Catholic movement”, of which I’m not a part.

AnnetteJoan
 
I would encourage you to embrace your Jewish heritage/identity as much as you feel called to do.


From what I understand of the theology behind the Hebrew Catholic movement, feel free to correct me anyone, is that it avoids many of the issues of “messanic Judaism”. It’s members are first off and fully Catholic in all respects. The way I understand it as they are welcome to in addition and “in the light of Christ” observe cultural or religious aspects of Judiasm for personal or spirtual reasons.

There are several major advantages to this approach. First you don’t have to be Jewish or of Jewish ancestory, you just to be Catholic and find meaning in the Jewish traditions. I’m not Jewish nor is my family but I’ve found a deep closeness with God in using Hebrew during prayer and some Hassidic traditions. I’m going to try to lean the Lords prayer and hail Mary both in Hebrew. I like to pray occasionally with tefflin and tallit. But these things arent obligatory to me, my salvation is thru Christ and the Church not thru the mitzovt.
 
^ That website’s lecture series with Lawrence Feingold, “Mystery of Israel and the Church”, is excellent! It’s huge too. I should get around to continuing it.
 
Though I am Jewish, I have some family who are Hebrew Catholics.

While the Catholic Church encourages all to research Christianity’s Jewish heritage, it does not encourage Christians who are not of Hebrew heritage to join the Hebrew Catholic movement. The reason is that the practices involved are meant for the preservation of those who are from a Jewish background, and that there are specific Church laws discouraging non-Jewish Catholics from engaging in Jewish practices without proper training in Jewish liturgy.

For instance the USCCB states regarding Christians attending or holding a Seder:
It is wrong…to “baptize” the Seder by ending it with New Testament readings about the Last Supper or, worse, turn it into a prologue to the Eucharist. Such mergings distort both traditions…Christians who wish to attend a Passover Seder should do so at the invitation of Jewish friends, families or synagogues that often welcome guests to this important meal. This allows Christians to experience the Seder as a Jewish family liturgy…However, in the event that Christians celebrate the Seder alone…the rites of the haggadah for the Seder should be respected in all their integrity.
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While the Hebrew Catholics won’t turn you away, it is not meant to be an alternative group for people who wish to join the Catholic Church with a “Jewish” feel. It is for Roman Catholics of Jewish descent who wish to keep their cultural practices alive within the boundaries of the Church. Members of the Hebrew Catholic community are already generally well-trained in Jewish liturgy and Hebrew because they are already Hebrew and of Jewish descent.

While I do not discourage your converting to Catholicism or looking into the Hebrew Catholics, I would take on one at a time. I would concentrate on just converting to Catholicism. If you feel God calling you to the Catholic Church, then let God do God’s work on bringing you there. There’s enough in common with Judaism within the Church as it is that you don’t need to belong to the Hebrew Catholics to experience a rich tradition or connection with Israel through that group. It’s there in the Catholic Church, and I say that as a practicing and a Torah-observant Jew.

If, as you study to become a Catholic, you still feel a call to Judaism, I would talk to your sponsor or a catechist, or with a priest. Perhaps God is not calling you to the Church. But don’t make any rash decisions just yet. Talk it over with some people. Or maybe try another form of Judaism than the one you tried before, but stay on the road you are for now and go from there before changing your mind. People in the Catholic Church will help guide you either way.
 
Gonna be the guy everyone hates here. Episcopalians, the American Anglicans, aren’t Protestant. Anglicans are technically Catholic. But nowadays, the modern Episcopalians have lost their historic faith and lapsed into Protestantism. It depends on your belief, not your affiliation, when it comes to the Anglican Communion.

You’ll find a lot within Episcopalianism that is Catholic, however, you need to come home to Rome. You’ll find many Hebrew Catholics actually - I have an Hebrew/Russian bible that was given to me by a friend who converted to the Church from Judaism. It is a tradition that is very much alive. Feel the spirit of God. Pray hard and often. He will always lead you home to His Church. Catholicism is the continuation of Judaism, which in its true form was dissolved at the destruction of the temple.
 
I am not sure the OP wants to join the Hebrew Catholics after converting to
Catholicism. He says he would like advice from them. Perhaps asking how fulfilled they are in the Catholic faith or why they stopped practicing their Jewish
faith as they used to. The big difference between Judaism and Catholicism is that Judaism does not believe Jesus is the Messiah. They are still waiting for the Messiah. Catholicism, of course, believes Jesus is the Messiah who came to fulfill what was promised.
Maybe the OP wants to hear their testimony.
 
Messianic Judaism is more protestant.
Hebrew Catholics are definitely Catholics.
 
Interesting, I just saw a you tube video the other night and it was a Passover being celebrated by a Messianic Jewish group. They did include parts of the New Testament into the Seder.
It made me so thankful I have the Mass.
 
You don’t have to be the bad guy, I’m well aware that anglo-catholics aren’t Catholic despite the name.
My situation is sort of strange and I need to meet with a Catholic priest to guide me thru the odd particulars I face.
I’m not a true anglo-catholic because I reject the theology of protestantism and the 49 articles in particular. I don’t know if I accept the Catholic magisturim 100%, that’s something I need to pray and discern and I bet is something many Catholics struggle with.
I do know that I need to faith in God and the Christain tradition and not rely on my own understandings or the opinions of men. I can’t stomach protestantism and have always been drawn to Catholicsm. I don’t immediately convert to catholicism because my wife and entire family is very staunchly episicopalian.
It’s complicated.
 
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You’re right that my plan isn’t as simple as become Catholic and then became Hebrew Catholic. These are all things I’ll need to work out with a priest.

I was under the impression that Hebrew Catholics we’re designed for Jews who have become Catholic, it is open to gentiles who wish to deepen their faith thru Jewish practices. I found some side references in interviews and publications to this effect. Archbishop Raymond Burke said all Catholics are grafted on to these traditions, Jewish traditions are Catholic traditions. Obviously there is a difference of views on this, but there seems to be room for non-jews to participate on some level.

My case is also different, I was in the process of converting to being a Jew and studied and practiced the faith for two years. I was a “Noahide” and was a follower of Judaism but just not yet a Jew. I continue to do many Jewish rituals including use of tefflin and tallit, but I do not celebrate a solo-passover for example. I actually considered myself spirtually Jewish and rejected rabbinical authority following a mix of breslov chaasidim and essene judaism, both of which are non-rabbinical traditions in a sense (everything in Judaism is complicated)

What makes someone a Jew according to the Catholics? My parental grandfather was Jewish. Why should the Catholics use Rabbinical standards?

Honestly weither I can continue my Hebrew practices is a deciding factor on weither I submit myself completely before the magistrate and seek official conversion to Catholicsm or weither I do my own thing with Jewish and Catholic practices in an episocopalian pew. Hopefully a priest can help me sort it out.

P.S. messanic Judiasm is a more protestant option, but I reject protestantism and I’m not a fan of messanics theology. They have serious issues with wanting to be Jewish but lacking the ability to make converts or make their own rulings on Law. It’s a mess. The Hebrew Catholic model which is be a Christian first and only and add practices as you feel called is the best I think.
 
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You have certainly done much discerning
and put a lot of thought into this.
I would contact the author of Salvation is from the Jews, Roy Schoeman and definitely read his book. I would also begin learning more about Catholicism.
I always had a strong pull towards Judaism and enjoyed my studies at the synagogue. I do like Catholicism and I love Mary who the Jewish people, unfortunately, don’t “know”. We cannot deny the Jewish roots of our Catholic faith!
 
MysticMonist said:
I was under the impression that Hebrew Catholics we’re designed for Jews who have become Catholic,
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Yes, I believe that is correct. If you’re in doubt, you might consider contacting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, where you’ll find plenty of people who are qualified to answer your questions. In particular, the current head of the St. James Vicariate for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel is Fr. Rafic Nahra, whose telephone number and email address you will find here:

http://catholic.co.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=421&lang=en
 
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Since I talked about doubting some of Catholic teaching and mentioned my discernment of conversion in this thread and I want to state I’m still praying for guidance as to what I should do, I linked a thread I started on that specific topic which more directly asks this question.
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Help with St John of the Cross, humility Spirituality
Hello, Im studying the Ascent on Mount Carmel, an amazing but challenging work. St John writes, “This he said that the truly spiritual man may understand the mystery of the gate and of the way of Christ, and so become united with God, and may know that, the more completely he is annihilated for God’s sake, according to these two parts, the sensual and the spiritual, the more completely is he united to God and the greater is the work which he accomplishes. And when at last he is reduced to not…
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