This Year in Messianic Judaism
1. We celebrated our 40th anniversary in Los Angeles. Together we honored our founding leaders, with special interviews and presentations by Rabbi Dr. John & Dr. Patrice Fischer and Rabbi Dr. Dan & Patty Juster. We enjoyed a beautiful week of multi-generational fellowship, and lived up to our promise that "We're Gonna Party Like its 1979!" 2. We supported the biggest cohort of rabbinic interns and young scholars in the Union’s history.
Our interns and scholars are serving congregations in the following cities:
Boston, Massachusetts
New Haven, Connecticut
Boca Raton, Florida
Sacramento, California
Cary, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Richmond, Virginia
Washington, DC
3. We launched a new training program for Messianic Jewish teachers. Shabbat school teachers and volunteers can earn the new Messianic Jewish Educators credential by taking 6 brief (and affordable) online courses, on topics including Jewish History, Messianic Jewish Theology, Jewish Holidays & Life Cycles, and Classroom Management. Stay tuned for our next class: Jewish History taught by Rabbi David Friedman will be available for online learning in March, 2020. 4. Our congregations faced unprecedented challenges, as anti-Semitism rises across America.
Several Messianic Jewish congregations dealt with bomb threats, vandalism, and other hate crimes. All of our congregations have ramped up their security measures, and we have offered continuous training to synagogue security teams. Join us in praying that God would continue confounding the plans of those who seek to persecute or destroy us, and that He would strengthen the brave men and women who protect us.
5. We published new exclusive resources for Friends of the Union. Sign up at umjc.org/friends to receive your copy of Rabbi Stuart Dauermann’s weekly devotional, At Messiah’s Feet.
6. Walking to Sinai: Together, we observed 49 days of prayer, study, and giving as we counted the Omer together. Thanks to your generous donations, this year we made a gift of $5,000 to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice to support their legal aid to religious minorities in Israel.
7. Blogging & Podcasting: Our small team of Messianic Jewish rabbis and scholars continued serving up thought provoking weekly commentaries on the Torah and haftarah portions. You can find audio versions of our latest commentaries on Apple Podcasts, and listen during your morning commute. Check out our top five blog posts this year:
The Woman of Flames by Monique Brumbach
The Mah Zot Principle by Rabbi Dr. Stuart Dauermann
Passover Unfinished by Rabbi Russ Resnik
What Happened to the Maccabees? by Rabbi Elliot Klayman (2017 post still getting major traffic from search engines)
Helpless but Ready – Rabbi Russ Resnik
Thank you for your ongoing support and faithful commitment to the Messianic Jewish community! Happy New Year, Monique Brumbach UMJC Executive Director