Looking for fellow Jewish converts who are now Traditional Catholics

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AnnetteJoan said:
“Messianic Judaism” originally was called Hebrew Christianity. It evolved out of protestant missions to the Jews which often created a small worship area in their mission offices so Jewish converts could worship with a Jewish flavor. But theologically they are protestants (usually pentecostal, but sometimes Reformed or Baptist.)
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The ones I’m familiar with are nothing like Pentecostals or Baptists. Those are two groups I do not get along with at all. The groups of Messianic Jews I’m familiar with are Jewish except for the acceptance of Christ as the Messiah. They abide by the Torah, read it in their services, follow Kosher dietary laws, etc.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, just saying the ones I know aren’t like that.
 
I suppose so…that’s the problem with protestantism…they are an offshoot, and then more break off from them, and this keeps going on for decades and centuries. “Messianic Judaism” began as a way for protestant missions to evangelize Jews…they would sometimes have storefront mission services using Jewish symbols and words, but the ultimate goal was to convert Jews to protestantism and then funnel them into prot sects. From that, some moved into creating “Hebrew Christianity”, and then from there, beginning in the 1980s, they created “Messianic Judaism”. It began to irritate prot sects because they wanted those converted Jews to join their denoms and were annoyed that they decided to form their own groups, lol. The Jews for Jesus organization was begun as a missionary arm of the protestant denominations, and even today they have trouble getting funding from prot denoms if they are seen to actively support MJ congregations.
 
ConstantLearner said:
I admit, I’ve thought of going to Messianic Jewish services at times because they seem to have a stronger sense of community. The RC Church seems to be losing that.
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That could be because they have a particular ethnic identity. The Greek Orthodox in my area have a much better community. But I think it is due more to the immigrant and ethnic culture than religion. The Catholic Church does seem to be losing that community but we should do what we can to bring it back maybe within a sub community of the larger community.
ConstantLearner said:
Churches are mostly empty, people give rote responses, babies scream and ruin the whole experience, etc.
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Babies are supposed to be in Mass. Mass is for the whole family. The most traditional priest I know closed the cry room and welcomed babies. I’m not saying I like screaming babies or that sometimes stepping outside isn’t a good idea. But when I hear crying I try to think of how wonderful it is that a family is at Mass and that children are being raised in the Faith.
 
exnihilo said:
Babies are supposed to be in Mass. Mass is for the whole family. The most traditional priest I know closed the cry room and welcomed babies. I’m not saying I like screaming babies or that sometimes stepping outside isn’t a good idea. But when I hear crying I try to think of how wonderful it is that a family is at Mass and that children are being raised in the Faith.
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A baby crying now and then is fine and normal, but one who is screaming at the top of his or her lungs for an entire hour should be taken to a cry room. That’s what they’re there for. If they weren’t, why build them? My church has four, mostly empty, while no one hears the Mass.
 
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I attended a MIssa Cantata at Mater Ecclesiae RCC several years ago. It was a reverent High Mass with a choral group that sounded like a choir of angels. Beautiful music! If my memory is correct, the Pastor is involved with liturgical music. The sermon was excellent too! 😄
 
Its a dead religion, meaning spiritually. When the Second Temple was destroyed as a result of the prophecy of Christ (and His crucifixion), Judaism became a meaningless religion. Christ was the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism. The rabbinic Judaism we have known for the past 2000 years (after Christ) was the effort by the Pharisees to reinvent Judaism so it could survive after the destruction of the Second Temple. Biblical Judaism required animal sacrifice to atone for sin. Without the Temple and the priesthood, Judaism could no longer atone for sin. This is because Christ was the final atonement.
 
You must have met WAY different Jews than I have known in my 58 years, most of those years living in Jewish communities and having been raised within Orthodox Judaism.
 
Not actually Jewish but spent three years worshiping at a Messianic Synagogue. I am now at a Latin-Rite parish that does reverent Novus Ordo masses. Unfortunately, the nearest latin masses are an hour away and my car isn’t reliable.
 
Much depends on the individual way your family raised you as an Orthodox Jew. I was raised as a Conservative Jew at home, attended an Orthodox synagogue, and became a Reform Jew. Did you consider investigating other streams of Judaism before converting to Christianity? Of course it is your choice; but I am just curious how your Orthodox upbringing brought you to think of Judaism in such a negative light.
 
Surely as a former Orthodox Jew, you must have learned that, according to Torah teaching, blood sacrifice of animals atoned only (or nearly only) for UNINTENTIONAL sins toward G-d, but NOT for intentional sins toward others. The latter could only be atoned for by repentance toward one’s fellow man, as well as by prayer and alms-giving. These methods of atonement carried more weight than blood sacrifice. Further, the Temple was in ancient days not attended by all, or even most, Jews. It was too great a distance for most of the poor folk, who could not afford to travel such lengths. So there were local temples (which became known as synagogues) that were used in its place. And the atonement in the synagogues was most often NOT blood sacrifice of animals, but grain sacrifice and the like, which was more convenient and cheaper.
 
Hi, I was always a contemplative person, seeking for a personal relationship with God. I did not feel Judaism gave me that, even though I delved into mystical Judaism too (the Tanya, the Zohar, etc) to try to find a spiritual relationship with God within Orthodox Judaism.

As for my negative view of Judaism, I got that from Jewish religious teaching, esp. the belief that to love ones neighbor as onesself only applies to other Jews. I wanted a faith that loved and helped all people regardless of their background.

I also studied in depth the history of the development of the Tanakh, and learned that the LXX was called Divinely inspired in the Talmud when it was translated in 200 BC, yet after the Second Temple was destroyed, the Parushim (Pharisees) got together to “reinvent” Judaism so it would survive the destruction of the Second Temple (which also ended animal sacrifices to atone for sin). Part of this involved junking the LXX (Septuagint), esp. since the first Jewish Christians had used it so dramatically to win Jews to Christ because of the prophecies which sounded very much like Jesus…and in its place they put the Masoretic text, with the messianic prophecies deliberately retranslated to sound less like Jesus (ha’almah in place of parthenos in Is 7:14 and so on).

I realized that not only myself but all Jews and even all Christians were lied to for 2000 years by a rabbinic Judaism that has only truly existed since the destruction of the Second Temple, and which was established basically on a rejection of Christ. The rabbis even decided to teach that animal sacrifices (blood) no longer atoned for sin, but tefilla (prayer) and mitzvot (good deeds) now did.

Its a very long story, and trust me when I say I studied this in great depth, having the advantage of knowing Hebrew and some Aramaic which helped.

As for reform and conservative, etc: they generally don’t believe in God and see being Jewish as more of a social club. I had friends who were raised reform and conservative…those forms are basically to Judaism (Orthodox Judaism) what protestantism is to the Catholic Faith. They are also very liberal theologically and politically, so they were not even a consideration.
 
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You sound very similar to another poster on the former Catholic Forum named Xenia (or Zenia). No, you are mistaken regarding the notion of a “reinvention” of Judaism. Yes, Judaism had to make do without the Temple, but the Masoretic text was NOT reinvented or retranslated. I don’t know where you got this information, but undoubtedly not from a reliable source. And Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism are most definitely not mere “social clubs” consisting of people who don’t believe in G-d. I can tell you this from first-hand experience. I don’t mean to sound harsh or confrontational but I must inform you that your sources regarding the history of Judaism are inaccurate, to say the least. For example, prayer and good deeds taking precedence over blood sacrifice is clearly indicated in the Torah, not the Talmud. And so-called rabbinic Judaism is based on ancient Judaism: it is NOT a reinvention, much less a lie.
 
Good for that Polish priest! I try in my own way–without the authority or knowledge of a priest, for sure–when I come across a passage that describes Catholicism or Christianity in general in a negative way, to point out the simplicity of such an argument to my students. This doesn’t happen very often in my field of psychology, but on occasion I spot a reference to the Church which I know is false or misleading.
 
Count me in. Prepare for confrontation: (1) in the name of inter-religious ecumenism; and (2) you don’t understand Judaism, blood sacrifices were minor, Judiasm doesn’t recognize the need for “salvation,” etc.

1 Cor. 1:23 and all.
 
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My name is Annette Joan, not Zenia/Xenia.

You are entitled to your opinions, but my information came from my own research, not any person or biased website. It has been my personal experience based on observation in the Jewish community and with associates who are reform and conservative, that its mostly a social club focusing on Zionism and the Holocaust, and not so much deep spirituality. Even many of the Orthodox are not deeply spiritual except for Chasidim. A careful study of history will show how Judaism developed after the destruction of the Second Temple; it is clear that Judaism changed and has evolved into what it is today. This is why I say that the Judaism which existed in the times of the Tanakh is not the same as what evolved since the Second Temple period.
 
You’re entitled to your opinion. Regardless, Judaism was very unfulfilling for me, and Lord knows I did try to find a contemplative aspect of Judaism but didn’t.
 
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