The short answer
Messianic Judaism is a movement of Jewish people who follow Yeshua as Israel’s Messiah and continue to live as Jews, together with Gentiles who join them. The Hebrew Roots movement is made up mostly of non-Jewish Christians who have taken up Torah observance, usually apart from any Jewish community. Messianic Judaism centers on the Jewish people and their covenant. Hebrew Roots centers on the Torah as a rule for every believer, and some of its streams teach doctrines that Messianic Jews reject.
Messianic Judaism in brief
Messianic Judaism begins with a conviction about Israel. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, and He has never revoked it (Romans 11:29). A Jew who trusts in Yeshua remains a Jew, and is called to keep living as one: keeping Shabbat and the feasts, raising Jewish children, and staying bound to the Jewish people.
Its congregations are Jewish communities in shape. Many pray from the siddur, the traditional prayer book, carry a Torah scroll through the room, and read the weekly portion. Most also include Gentile believers, and in many they are the majority. The movement does not agree on what Gentile members should keep. Some congregations teach distinct callings for Jews and Gentiles, others welcome Gentiles into full Torah observance. What holds them together is the place of the Jewish people at the center. For more, see What is Messianic Judaism?
The Hebrew Roots movement
The Hebrew Roots movement grew in the 1990s and 2000s, largely among evangelical and charismatic Christians. Many of its members first discovered the biblical feasts, or noticed how Jewish Jesus was, and concluded that the church had wrongly set the Torah aside. They began keeping the Sabbath, eating biblically clean food and celebrating the feasts of Leviticus 23, often in home fellowships and through teachers they found online.
Many people in the movement love Scripture sincerely and want to obey God more fully. That desire deserves respect. The movement is also broad and has no central body, so its teaching varies a great deal from group to group. Some streams hold views that place them well outside Messianic Judaism.
- Two House or Ephraimite teaching. The belief that many Gentile believers are physical descendants of the lost northern tribes of Israel, and so are Israel themselves.
- Sacred Name teaching. The insistence that God and His Son may only be called by particular Hebrew names, and that “God,” “Lord” or “Jesus” are wrong or even pagan.
- Departures from historic faith. Some teachers deny the Trinity or Yeshua’s deity. Others treat Paul’s letters with suspicion or reject them.
Not every Hebrew Roots group holds these views. Even where it does not, the movement generally treats Torah as a rule for every believer, and it often keeps its distance from the Jewish community and from Jewish tradition.
Side by side
The two movements share a calendar and much of a vocabulary. These are the places where they part.
| Question | Messianic Judaism | Hebrew Roots |
|---|---|---|
| Who it centers on | The Jewish people and God’s covenant with them. | The Torah as a pattern of life for every believer. |
| Who belongs | Jewish believers in Yeshua and the Gentiles who join them. Leadership often includes Jewish families. | Mostly non-Jewish Christians, often in home fellowships or small independent groups. |
| Why Torah is kept | Jewish believers keep it as their covenant calling. Views on Gentile observance vary. | Usually taught as the standard of obedience for all believers alike. |
| Jewish tradition | Draws on the siddur, synagogue liturgy and Jewish customs, with discernment. | Often sets aside rabbinic tradition as man-made and works from the text alone. |
| The wider Jewish community | Sees itself as part of the Jewish people, and many congregations seek ties with it. | Usually has little contact with Jewish communities. |
| Who Israel is | The Jewish people. Gentile believers are joined to Israel’s blessings without becoming Jews. | Varies. Some streams teach that Gentile believers are physically Israel (Two House). |
Gentile Torah observance is not the dividing line by itself. Some Messianic congregations hold a One Law view and encourage Gentile members to keep the Torah. What separates the two movements is whether the community stands with the Jewish people as Israel, or treats Israel’s identity and practice as something any believer can take up as their own.
Jewish roots is something else
The names cause real confusion, so it helps to be exact. Messianic.co describes every listing with one of three labels.
- Messianic Jewish. Congregations that identify themselves as Messianic Jewish, where Jewish life and identity are central.
- Messianic. Churches with real Messianic congregational life, such as Shabbat worship, the feasts and Hebrew in prayer, that don’t describe themselves as Messianic Jewish.
- Jewish roots. Christian churches and ministries that honor the Jewish heritage of the faith and stand with Israel and the Jewish people.
A Jewish roots church is Christian in form. It may hold a Passover seder, teach on the feasts or pray for Israel, but it doesn’t ask its members to take on a Jewish or Israelite identity. That makes it very different from Hebrew Roots, despite the similar name. Jewish roots churches carry love for Israel into places a Messianic synagogue may never reach.
Why we don’t list Hebrew Roots groups
Messianic.co lists congregations and ministries that hold to Messianic Jewish theology. Every listing affirms that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel and that God’s covenant with the Jewish people is ongoing. It honors Jewish identity and practice without imitating them as a costume, and it keeps the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. A listing is out when its teaching places it in Hebrew Roots, Sacred Name or Two House.
The line is drawn on teaching. It says nothing about anyone’s sincerity or love for God. A directory is only useful if its labels mean something, and a Jewish family looking for a Messianic synagogue should find a community that stands with the Jewish people. When a group is declined, it gets a short, kind reply that explains why. You can read the full criteria on our standards page.
How to tell them apart
If you are visiting a congregation for the first time, a few questions will usually tell you where it stands.
- Does it belong to a Messianic Jewish body, such as the UMJC or the MJAA?
- Are there Jewish families in the congregation and its leadership?
- Does its statement of faith speak of the Jewish people as Israel, or of Gentile believers as Ephraim or the lost tribes?
- Does it require particular Hebrew names for God?
- Does it affirm the deity of Yeshua and the whole of the New Testament?
Every congregation in our directory has already been checked against these questions, and each listing shows its label and any affiliation.
Common questions
Is Hebrew Roots the same as Messianic Judaism?
No. Messianic Judaism is centered on Jewish people who follow Yeshua and remain Jews, along with the Gentiles who join them. Hebrew Roots is a mostly non-Jewish movement that takes up Torah observance as a rule for all believers, usually outside the Jewish community. They share practices, but they differ on who Israel is and why the Torah is kept.
Is the Hebrew Roots movement a cult?
We don’t use that word for the movement as a whole. It is broad and decentralized, and many people in it are sincere believers who love Scripture. Some teachers within it deny the Trinity or the deity of Yeshua, and those teachings depart from historic faith. It is wise to read a group’s statement of faith closely.
What is Two House theology?
Two House, or Ephraimite, teaching holds that many Gentile believers are physical descendants of the northern tribes of Israel that were scattered by Assyria, and so are Israel themselves. Messianic Judaism rejects it because it erases the distinction between the Jewish people and the Gentiles who are joined to them through the Messiah.
Can a Gentile keep the Torah and still belong to a Messianic congregation?
Yes. Most Messianic congregations include Gentile members, and some encourage them to keep the Torah fully. Others teach that Jews and Gentiles have distinct callings. What matters to a Messianic congregation is that Gentile believers stand with the Jewish people rather than take on Israel’s identity as their own.
What does Jewish roots mean on Messianic.co?
It describes Christian churches and ministries that honor the Jewish heritage of the faith and stand with Israel and the Jewish people. It is a different thing from the Hebrew Roots movement, and Messianic.co lists Jewish roots churches but not Hebrew Roots groups.
Further reading
Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology: A Constructive Approach
Richard Harvey. Paternoster, 2009. A survey of the movement’s theologians and how widely their views range.
Messianic Judaism: A Modern Movement with an Ancient Past
David H. Stern. Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2007. A readable introduction to what the movement is and is not.