Thank you for coming to my web-site! B'rit Hadasha is a Messianic Jewish synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee, led by Rabbi Gary Shansky. There is only one problem...Gary Shanksy is not a rabbi and B'rit Hadasha is not a Jewish organization, but a Christian group. I will demonstrate this, using information from their web-site and other Christian sites. Reference links will be provided so that you can see the proof for your own eyes.
The Leaders Rabbi Gary Shansky is the leader of B'rit Hadasha. He may have been born Jewish , but if you look closely at his biography, he is a Christian leader, not a real Jewish leader. According to his biography on their web-site: ".day. Originally from Pennsylvania, the Shansky family traveled to Memphis from Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Gary had completed his Masters degree in Biblical Studies at Regent University. .."
Here is the link to see that B'rit Hadasha makes these statements, Shansky's history is at the end of the essay:
Click Here So, let's look at the institutions that Gary Shansky affiliated himself with. First, there is Regent University, which was founded by the Christian Broadcast Network Televangelist Pat Robertson. In fact, Pat Robertson vision for Regent University is as follows: "Regent University is an academic environment where Christian leaders are taught to discern and respond to the times."
Pat Robertson is crystal-clear; he is training Christian leaders, not Jewish leaders. A real Jewish leader would never attend Regent University as Shanksy did. Here is the link to the quote:
Click Here Next, we have Tikkun Ministries recognizing Shanksy as a Messianic Rabbi. That is rather interesting, as Tikkun Ministries was founded by Dan Juster, an ordained Presbyterian minister. Here is a link to my review of Tikkun Ministries, proving that they are a Christian organization:
Click Here Shanksy is also a missionary for the Central Church. Would a real Jewish leader be a church missionary? Never! Here is the link to the missionary listings:
Click Here Moreover, Gary Shansky and B'rit Hadasha are listed on Christian evangelist George Verwer's web-site. They are the 12th listing on the left-hand side of the "Christian Radio" section:
Click Here Gary Shansky has an assistant, Ruben Barrett. According to the B'rit Hadasha web-site: " He has a B.A. from Central Bible College, a Teacher�s Diploma from the Evangelical Training Association, and he has pursued further studies at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary and the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations Yeshiva."
Here is the link to the quote, Barrett's biography is a the bottom of the page:
Click Here On a tangential note, it is interesting that one can train at a Baptist Seminary and Messianic "Yeshiva" at the same time. It says a great deal about what the Messianic movement really is, which is a branch of Christianity. As for Central Bible College, their goal is to: " Training ministers and missionaries is all we do and it is with this singular focus that we strive to be the finest finishing school for spiritual leaders in the Assemblies of God."
Central Bible College trains Assemblies of God ministers (a Christian group better known as the Pentecostals). They do not train Jewish leaders, but Christian ministries. Here is the link to the quote, the quote is the last line of the first paragraph:
Click Here Next, he has a degree from the Evangelical Training Association. This is the "Mission Statement" of their organization: "To develop excellent teachers and leaders through curriculum that advances high standards of Christian educational ministries, enhancing the effectiveness of the evangelical church worldwide."
Obviously, the Evangelical Training Association is as far from a Jewish training institute as is possible. No one attends that organization to do anything but run a Christian organization. A real Jewish leader would never attend there! Here is the link to their "Mission Statement":
Click Here Lastly, there is the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. It goes without saying that Mid-America is a Christian training ground for the Baptist movement. According to their web-site: "Since 1972 when Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary began training men and women for ministry, we have kept our three-fold emphases of Bible preaching, missions, and evangelism."
Again, a real Jewish leader does not attend Mid-America, only someone who wants to be a Christian minister would go there. Here is link to the quote, the quote comes from the beginning of the first paragraph:
Click Here Ruben Barrett has been involved in many different Christian groups in his activities as a Christian leader. According to his personal web-site ministry, HaDavar Ministries: "Places of ministry span across Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, and include a wide variety of congregations (including Assembly of God, Baptist, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Evangelical-Free, Independent/non-denominational, Messianic Jewish, Methodist, and Presbyterian.)"
So, basically, Barrett has been a part of all different types of Christian groups. Not exactly the resume of a real rabbi's assistant. Here is the link to the quote, the quote comes from "About Ruben Barrett" section:
Click Here
Christian Help Since B'rit Hadasha is not a real Jewish synagogue, it is not surprising that they asked for volunteers from the Central Church to help them. Central Church has a list of local mission opportunities, B'rit Hadasha is the 1st on the list:
Click Here
Christian Listing As a Christian organization, it is not suprising that B'rit Hadasha is listed with other Christian churches as a "Sabbath observing Church" by New Covenant Ministries:
Click Here
Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Outreach Judaism Counter Missionary Reference Torah Atlanta Messianic Verses in Tanach Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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