Are you living in Florida? Curious about Messianic Judaism and what it is all about? Mishkan David is a messianic congregation in Lauderhill, Florida led by Gabriel Simkin. However, there is one main problem...Mishkan David is not a Jewish organization, but an entirely Christian group! I will demonstrate this, using information from their site and other Christian sites to prove this. References will be provided, so that you can see the evidence each time. Southern Baptist and Harvest Connection Gabriel Simkin, the leader of Mishkan David, likes to present himself as the "Messianic Rabbi" leading a Jewish group. However, it is clear that this is not the case. Harvest Network International is a Christian evangelical organization. If you look at their listing of members of Harvest, you will see that under "Florida", there is a listing for "Messiah is God Fellowship-Lauderhill". You will see that the leader is "Rev. Gabriel Simkin." Here is the link to the proof:
Click Here In case you were doubting whether this is the same Gabriel Simkin from Mishkan David, check the address in the listing for Messiah is God...you will see that it is 4361 Rock Island Road in Lauderhill. The address for Mishkan David is also 4361 Rock Island Road. Here is the link to the Mishkan David site, so you can see that the address is the same:
Click Here So, that brings us back to Harvest Network Internation. What is this group that Reverend Simkin has joined? Well, according to their web-site: "Harvest Network International, formerly known as the Association of Evangelical Charismatic Ministries (AECM), was born in the mid-1980's when a group of leaders saw the need for a ministerial association that embraced a high view of Scripture, the importance of the gifts of the Spirit being active in the Church today, and a vision of a worldwide harvest."
So, we see that Messiah is God Fellowship is the same as Mishkan David, and that it is a part of an evangelical Christian organization. But, it gets worse. Messiah is God Fellowship is officially part of the Southern Baptist Convention! Here is the link to its listing with the Southern Baptist Convention. You will note that they do not give a street address, but they do provide the phone number, (954) 485-3125....which happens to be the same phone number as Mishkan David:
Click Here In order that you can see that this is the same phone number as Mishkan David, here is a link to the Mishkan David schedule of services (a major flaw on this page will be explained farther down on this page); Mishkan David lists the phone number at the bottom:
Click Here So, in sum, Gabriel Simkin is a reverend of a Christian group that is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. Would a real Jewish group do this? Of course not! Here is the link to the quote, the quote is from the first paragraph:
Click Here Not suprisingly, if you look at the beliefs of Mishkan David and the beliefs of Harvest Network International, they are basically identical. They both believe in the Holy Trinity, virignal birth, resurrection...all of these are standard Christinan beliefs that have never existed in Judaism. Each attempts to back their beliefs with Biblical quotes. Unfortunately, they have mis-represented and mis-translated the Bible, which are common complaints that Judaism has with Christian groups. If you go to my "Great Sites, Priceless Information", you will find links to groups that easily prove their claims wrong. Jews for Judaism and Messiah Truth are probably the most groups that go through the most "prophecies" in the best detail. Here are the links to the Harvest and Mishkan beliefs, Harvest lists their beliefs under "Confession Of Faith":
Click Here for Mishkan Beliefs
Click Here for Harvest Beliefs Would a real Jewish group have beliefs that are identical to an evangelical Christian group? Of course not! Christian Tour Recently, Gabriel Simkin went with Ed Hill Tours to Israel. You can find his praise of Ed Hill among a host of various Christian ministers. Here is the link to the proof, he is the 8th testimonial:
Click Here So, what is Ed Hill tours? Ed Hill states on his web-site: "Ed Hill Tours was founded by Edward B. Hill in 1964 and is the oldest tour company in America specializing in Christian group travel.
The oldest in Christian group travel? A real Jewish group would never use Ed Hill, only a Christian leader like Reverend Simkin would do this. Here is the link to the quote, it is the first line of the first paragraph:
Click Here Violating the Ten Commandments A key part of Judaism is keeping the Sabbath-it is part of the Ten Commandments. Mishkan David, on the other hand, violates the Sabbath. How do they do this? Mishkan David runs a "Shabbat class" for children during its services on Saturday. Now, if you have ever been to a real Jewish synagogue, you will know that there are never classes for children on the Saturday. School/classes are given on Sunday, hence, why it is often called "Sunday School." The reason why synagogues do this is because school is work. Think about what you do in class: write, erase, cut and paste projects...all of this is work and is forbidden on the Sabbath. This is why Jewish synagogues never do this! The practice of letting children out during services on the "Sabbath" is a Christian practice. Christians generally hold school for their children on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, during services. Jews refuse to do this because it is a violation of the Ten Commandments! Here is the link to the proof, the "Shabbat class" is discussed in the second paragraph:
Click Here Basic Errors Mishkan David makes many errors that are clearly visible in its photo gallery. For instance, if you look at their Passover 2004 pictures, you will see that in three pictures, people are wearing a Tallit at the Seder. You can see this clearly in the picture on the far left of the first row and the two end pictures in the second row. In reality, no one wears a Tallit at a Seder, even if they are leading the Seder. A real Jewish group would never make this error. Here is the link to the proof photos:
Click Here The errors continue on its Mikvah pictures. There are two major, obvious errors that they make. It is pretty clear from their pictures that they are using the ocean as a Mikvah. The problem is, the ocean cannot be used as a Mikvah. A mikvah consists of water from a natural spring or rain water that is caught by a container (the ocean does not count as a "container"). The ocean is not acceptable as a Mikvah-a real Jewish group would never make this error. Secondly, you will see that people are enterring the ocean for their "Mikvah" while wearing clothes. In reality, you go to the mikvah either naked or wearing a very loose-fitting robe. Shorts, bathing suits, regular shirts are not acceptable. The reason for this rule is that the water has to be able to reach all part of the body for the ritual to be legitimate. Bathing suits, shorts, regular shirts can block the water from reaching parts of the body. A real Jewish group would never make this error. On a side-note, you will notice that the "mikvah" is taking place in mixed company; both men and women are present. At a real mikvah, since you are naked or almost naked while going into the mikvah, only women are allowed to be present when women go in, and only men are allowed to be present when men go into the mikvah. Otherwise, men and women who are not married to each other are likely to see the opposite sex naked, which would lack himility and modesty. Again, a real Jewish group would know this, but apparently Mishkan David does not!
Here is the link to the Mikvah pictures to see the error:
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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