• Comes from the word “Messiah”, which comes from the Hebrew word “meshiach”, meaning “the anointed one”.
• As opposed to other Jews, Messianics believe that Jesus was the messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.
• They still hold traditional Jewish rituals and festivals
  • Passover
  • Yom Kippur
  • Sabath
• Still observe laws and traditions defined in the Torah.
• First started in late 1800s with the Hebrew-Christian movement in Great Britain.
• Because of their belief of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, many Jews and other organizations around the world do not recognized Messianics as Jews.
• Very small congregation:
  • Out of 14 Million worldwide:
    • 160,000 in U.S., 350,000 worldwide (1993)
    • 150 Messianic Synagogues in U.S., 400 worldwide (2003)

References: crossfaithministry.org/messianicjudaism.html

www.jewfaq.org/meshiach.htm

Prothero Textbook, Chapter 7