2.4 The Charismatic Synagogal Type

During my last stay in Israel I visited one type ℸ (daleth), charismatic synagogal, congregation and interviewed two leaders. Literature and photos enriched my impression of this group. A promotion video added selected glimpses of its supernatural, internal and external interaction. Nevertheless, there are more groups of this type in Israel. Fortunately, later I met four leaders of other congregations of this type outside Israel. I could listen to them, talk with them and watch them as they acted out their rabbinical responsibilities. These encounters completed and corrected my perceptions about type ℸ (daleth) congregations.

After Glasnost en Perestroika many Russian Jews migrated to Israel. Before the „change” in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union I joined a Pesach in a European non-Messianic Orthodox Synagogue. Then, a rabbi claimed that „when Messiah comes, Gorbajev must let go all Jews”. In 1998, about 800.000 of the Israeli population are from areas of the former Soviet Union. They can become a dominant factor in some local congregations, like in the type ℸ (daleth) congregation that I visited. Some came as „believers in Jesus” to Israel, brought experiences of Russian type ℸ (daleth) Messianic synagogues with them. Messianic Jews from the USA initiate Messianic congregations in the CIS. However, in Israel, immigrants, Russian or Messianic or not, are often in need of life basics, like food, clothing and personal items, which can be expensive in Israel. Various Messianic groups try to help them, regardless the world-view or religious affiliations of the needy persons.