Thank you for entering my page! Right now, you are probably searching to find out more about Jewish beliefs in Jesus. Perhaps, you are questioning your faith and are looking at different options. The Rock of Israel Messianic Congregation presents itself as a Jewish congregation "in a contemporary way that reflects Jewish culture through Worshiping God, Prayer, thoughtful study of the Scriptures, fellowship with one another and growing the love and appreciation for the land, the promise and people, Israel." However, you may surprised to learn that there is nothing Jewish about Rock of Israel at all. In fact, they actually are a Baptist missionary congregation. I will demonstrate this, using information from their site and other Christian sites. In each case, reference links will be given so that you can see the information for your own eyes. Baptist Mother Rock of Israel presents itself as a Jewish congregation, while it is actually a Baptist congregation. Rock of Israel is an official church of the North American Baptist Conference. Obviously, the North American Baptist Conference does not have any real Jewish congregations as part of its membership; only Baptist congregations are members. Here is the link to their directory-Rock of Israel is listed with the churches in Illinois:
Click Here Christian Listing As Rock of Israel is a Christian congregation, it is not suprising that they are listed on the official church list of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian school. Let us be honest with ourselves-Trinity is not going to give their Christian body of students (including those in training to be Christian ministers) the name of a real Jewish congregation in their official church list. Here is the link to the listing-Rock of Israel is on page 7, at the bottom of the right-hand side:
Click Here Similarly, Rock of Israel is listed in the Housing Handbook for the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Would a real Jewish congregation be listed in a handbook for an evangelical divinity school, a school that ordains Christian ministers? Of course not. Again, here is the listing; Rock of Israel is on page 48:
Click Here Basic Hebrew Unfortunately, Rock of Israel also struggles with basic Hebrew. In their About Us page, in the "Barchu" section, they state: "Barchu is Hebrew for Blessing." Here is the link to the Rock of Israel About Us page so you can see that this is an accurate quote:
Click Here In reality, "Bracha" is the Hebrew word for blessing, not "Barchu." "Barchu" is a verb meaning "bless", and it is in the plural form. This is pretty basic Hebrew that a real Jewish congregation would not make a mistake with. Then again, Rock of Israel is an official church of the North American Baptist Conference and not a real Jewish congregation.
Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Outreach Judaism Counter Missionary Reference Torah Atlanta Messianic Verses in Tanach Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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