Dear Rabbi Unger

Yes it is me. I know that we haven't communicated all these years, but it doesn't mean that I shouldn't try to build bridges, despite the apparent gap between us. I say 'apparent' because, Rabbi, that gap really shouldn't be there.

I haven't suddenly ceased to exist, or lost my jewishness, or even betrayed my jewishness. To me, looking around at that Pesach table, at that collection of atheists, materialists, New Agers, zionists and rationalists, I'm the only one who hasn't strayed away from their Jewish heritage, believe me. Of course I don't have to tell you what it says in Torah about such people. Let Sadie beware the words of Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, "they made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols". And the rest of them should heed these words from the same chapter, "you deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth."

No I'm not trying to impress you with my knowledge of the Tanach, I'm not so naive to believe that's the way to gain your respect. More than likely you have just contempt for me quoting from your scriptures, as if I have turned my back on them.

It's quite the reverse, you'll have to believe me. I have total respect for the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. To me it isn't just the Old Testament of those Christians who seek to demote it into an inferior set of scriptures. It is God's word, every last syllable of it, from Genesis to Chronicles, I'm sure you'll agree.

Now if my faith, my jewish faith (for that is what it is, as I'll explain later), deviates from yours, it's just on one single issue. The issue is Moshiach, or the dreaded 'Christ'-word (there's nothing inherently anti-jewish about that word, it just comes from the Greek translation of 'messiah').

The Hebrew Bible speaks a lot of this person, describing him (Isaiah 53) and even predicting when he is to come (Daniel 9). I just happen to believe that the Jewish rabbi of the 1st century, Yeshua ben Yosef, is not just the best fit for this person, but a living manifestation of the dreams and aspirations of the Jewish people, if only they and you knew it!

Now, before you tear up this letter, let me explain my last statement. I know that, in the eyes of the Orthodox Jewish world, I'm a meshumad, a traitor and that there is probably no worst crime against the community, but haven't you ever thought to ask why?

Why should a Jewish believer in Yeshua be any less of a Jew than, say, Sadie, who probably (though I doubt if she realises it) worships Asian gods, or Miriam, who doesn't even believe in our God? That's a question I've never had a reasonable answer to, from an Orthodox Jew.

Are you going to answer it, Rabbi, or am I doomed never to know? I thought that, in order to be called a Jew, all you needed was a Jewish parent (I've got two), perhaps a circumcision (yep!), a barmitzvah (had one), a Jewish upbringing (sort of). I've had all those, which probably puts me well into the top band of any Jewish identity survey. So why should one single decision, made for all the best motives, disqualify me from the Jewish race? I realise that the past has a lot to do with it, the attitude and treatment of Jews at the hands of so-called 'Christians' has hardly endeared the Jewish people to Christianity. But those 'Christians' were hardly following the teachings and example of Jesus any more than secular Jews today live according to the Torah and the writings of the rabbis.

Have you heard any bad reports about me, or my mum, or my sister? Do you hear of us inciting the Gentiles into hatred of Jews? Do we, or our churches and fellowships, preach anti-semitism? No, of course not. I am still Jewish, my mum and sister are too. As I said earlier, we fully accept the Hebrew Bible, we respect (though not religiously so) the Shabbat, we celebrate the major festivals.

But you and other rabbis still consider us heretics and traitors. Why? I can give you an example of the treatment our fellowship has had at the hands of the Orthodox Jewish establishment. Our fellowship, made up of Jews and Gentiles, had outgrown its original meeting place and was looking for a larger place. Thanks to the kindness of the manager of a small community centre, they had a large room available on Fridays and offered it to our group for our meetings. This offer was taken up and a good relationship was established. The problem was that the community centre was within a large Jewish community and that Jewish youth groups also made use of the centre's facilities, though never at the time that we were there. When the local Orthodox rabbi got wind of our meetings he immediately feared the worst. He assumed that we were deliberately being provocative, even going so far as accusing us of regularly leafleting the community centre with Christian tracts and causing trouble at the Shabbat meetings at the local synagogue.

This was all lies, but unfortunately it got into the press and, as a result, we were booted out of the community centre. Now we had every reason to be bitter and angry and we certainly could have defended ourselves against such accusations, particularly as no proof was ever put forwards. But we didn't and we quietly went on our way. Some might say that our silence indicated guilt, but we had our own reasons. We simply did not wish to court controversy, we had no desire to upset people, least of all the rabbis of the community. It wouldn't have achieved anything except further discord between us.

Our scriptures (as do yours) teach us to love our brothers and to strive for peace and harmony. Although we believe that we represent a valid expression of Judaism (after all, we do worship the same God!), we don't wish to force the point at the expense of trust and good relations. So, rabbi, I hope that this letter has helped you to understand a little more about our position.

I am a messianic Jew, I will always be one until the day that I die. The question is, do you still consider that the day of my death has already passed, on the day I became a Meshumad, or can there be any hope for me?

Please break this 10 year silence and let us have a discussion, even if you disagree with every single point that I've made.

Yours sincerely,

Moishe Marks