By Jules Gomes, The Stream. (photo: Ben Ostrower/Unsplash)
Yaron and Sarah were like the first Jewish apostles in a Jewish assembly serving a Jewish Messiah
The grotesque slaughter of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the young Israeli Embassy staffers who were gunned down on May 21 in Washington, D.C., has sparked a spirited discussion concerning their faith: Were they Jews, Christians, or Messianic Jews?
In particular, the debate is raising questions about Messianic Judaism. What is this movement? Is it legit? Are Messianic Jews traitors to Judaism? And if they believe in Jesus, why don’t they identify as Christians and join a Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox church?
Yaron and Sarah were killed because a pro-Palestinian activist, Elias Rodriguez, identified them as Jews. “Free, free Palestine!” Rodriguez shouted after he was arrested. Footage of the shooting shows that he continued firing even after the couple had fallen. As a wounded Sarah tried to crawl away, Rodriguez continued shooting, stopping only to reload. When she sat up, he fired again, repeatedly.
What Is Messianic Judaism?
The media first reported that the couple were Israelis. Most people assumed they were Jews. The New York Times later revealed that Yaron had a Jewish father and a Christian mother; he himself was a Christian.
Sarah’s family belongs to the Reform congregation B’nai Jehudah. Her parents “beamed with joy and pride about Sarah’s work and her steadfast devotion to Judaism and to Israel,” Rabbi Kramer told the Jewish media outlet Forward.
A day later, Forward reported that Yaron had “found a spiritual home in Melech Ha’Mlachim — ‘King of Kings’ in English — a Messianic congregation near Jerusalem’s bustling Mahane Yehuda market.”
The Jewish media correctly described Messianic Judaism as “a religious movement made up of people who identify ethnically and culturally as Jewish and believe that Jesus — whom they call Yeshua — is the promised Messiah.”
“Our congregation is all Jewish Israelis for the most part,” David Boskey, a biblical scholar and a member of Melech Ha’Mlachim, told Forward. “We read from the Torah scroll. Everything is done in Hebrew.” He confirmed that Yaron’s family also belong to the Messianic assembly.
“Still, Lischinsky’s religious identity has stirred confusion in the wake of his death,” Forward noted. Boskey said that Yaron, “like others in their congregation, saw himself as a Jew who believed Jesus was the Messiah — and that this belief did not negate his Jewish identity.”
Anglicans Who Show “Utmost Respect for the Chosen People”
I learned that Yaron and Sarah had been regularly attending the Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes, an Episcopal church in Washington, D.C., over the last seven or eight months. I spoke to the rector of the Anglican parish, Fr. Dominique Peridan, who heaped the most wonderful praises on the young couple.
“I’d like to think that they felt comfortable here because we are a parish that hopes reverently to honor and engage our Risen Lord,” Peridan told me, “and for whom there is the utmost respect for the Chosen People, our elders, with whom there is deep spiritual continuity.”