Rabbinical court rules Messianic Jews cannot marry in Jewish ceremony because they are considered Christians

A rabbinical court has ruled that an Israeli couple who describes themselves as Messianic Jews cannot get married in a Jewish ceremony because their Christian beliefs put them outside of the Jewish faith.

The Israeli couple, who originally applied to marry at the Shoham Rabbinate, was referred to the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court to determine if they could get married in a Jewish ceremony, despite believing in Jesus as the Messiah, an idea antithetical to Jewish law and core principles of faith.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the couple, who were were both Jewish from birth, told the court that they believe "believe that Jesus is God," that they believe in the New Testament, that they were baptized in the name of the "Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," and that they believe in the "Holy Trinity."

They also noted that they belong to the Tiferet Yeshua Messianic community in Tel Aviv and said that they are hoping that the entire Jewish people will come to accept Christianity.

The special panel at the rabbinical court said that the couple could only get married in a Jewish ceremony if they declare "they have completely given up their Christian beliefs, including their belonging to a Messianic Jewish community and missionary activities."

The judges based their decision on several Talmudic sources and commentaries relating to Jews who convert. The panel determined that the couple were apostates from Judaism and refused to allow them to marry religiously through the Chief Rabbinate.

"Regretfully, this cult of Jews who believe in Jesus, including the petitioners in this case, are without doubt Jews who have gone over to another religion, converted from their religion to another faith, and even were baptized for this new faith," the judges wrote.

The rabbinical judges also cited a High Court of Justice ruling in 1992, which prevented a Messianic Jewish couple from the U.S. from gaining Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return since they had converted to Christianity.

The Tel Aviv court stated that it would reconsider the decision if the couple tells the court they had given up on their Christian beliefs.

This was the first time that the Israeli rabbinical court had to deal with the issue of the status of Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

The complexity of the case required the involvement of the deputy president of the court together with two senior rabbinical judges, who had to bring in a researcher and an expert in Christianity and missionary groups.

World Net Daily noted that all marriages in Israel are controlled by religious authorities regardless of religion, whether Jewish, Islamic, Christian or Druze, in accordance with the laws first handed down under the Ottoman Empire. The laws were retained by the British Mandate and continued to be applied after the state of Israel was established in 1948.

Dr. Michael Brown, a Messianic Jewish scholar and author of many books on Christianity and Judaism, expressed her disappointment with the ruling.

"In the eyes of most Orthodox Jews, Messianic Jews are heretics and idolaters, unworthy of being part of the larger Jewish community, even though they would consider us still Jews," he told World Net Daily.

"Many of them want to keep us out of Israel entirely, so refusing to grant two Messianic Jews an official rabbinic wedding is in keeping with their hostility toward us," he added, noting that there are Orthodox rabbis who would "gladly perform a ceremony for two atheists."