Why I Don't Belong to Hashivenu

I don’t belong to Hashivenu. There’s no mailing list. No newsletter to read or drop into the trash. No calendar to tear out and put on the fridge. No envelopes in the mail. There isn’t even a membership list where my name could appear. Or not.

No laminated membership card, no buttons or bumper stickers. There’s no phone number I can call to hear some receptionist say, “Hashivenu. How may I direct your call?”

What then is this Hashivenu that I don’t belong to? It’s a cluster of seven core values that more and more people are claiming as their own:

1. Messianic Judaism is a Judaism, and not a cosmetically altered "Jewish-style" version of what is extant in the wider Christian community.

2. God's particular relationship with Israel is expressed in the Torah, God's unique covenant with the Jewish people.

3. Yeshua is the fullness of Torah.

4. The Jewish people are "us" not "them."

5. The richness of the Rabbinic tradition is a valuable part of our heritage as Jewish people.

6. Because all people are created in the image of God, how we treat them is a reflection of our respect and love for Him; therefore, true piety cannot exist apart from human decency.

7. Maturation requires a humble openness to new ideas within the context of firmly held convictions.

I like these values. They say what I want to say and describe where I want Messianic Judaism to go.

No, I don’t belong to Hashivenu. But as I make these principles my own, Hashivenu belongs to me. “Bring us back to you, Hashem, and renew us as before.”

A public service message brought to you by people like you who don’t belong to Hashivenu.