"Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete."  Matthew 5:17

Kehilah Portland
 

A Messianic Jewish Synagogue
 
     
"Here, the days are coming," says Adonai, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra'el and with the house of Y'hudah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a husband to them," says Adonai. "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after those days," says Adonai: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will any of them teach his fellow community member or his brother, 'Know Adonai'; for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest; because I will forgive their wickednesses and remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31 - 34
   

Kehilah Portland's Statement of Beliefs

WE BELIEVE:
  • That the BIBLE, consisting of the Tenach (Holy Scriptures) and the later writings commonly known as the B'rit Hadasha (New Covenant), is the only infallible and authoritative word of God. We recognize its divine inspiration, and accept its teachings as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.

Sources: D'varim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 - 9; Mishlei (Proverbs) 3:1 - 6; Tehillim (Psalm) 119:89, 119:105; Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 48:12 - 16; Romans 8:14 - 17, 2Timothy 2:15, 3:16 - 17

  • GOD - We believe that the Shema, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4), teaches that God is Echad, as so declared: a united one, a composite unity, eternally existent in plural oneness [Genesis 1:1 (Elohim: God); Genesis 1:26 "Let us make man in our image"; Genesis 2:24 - Adam & Eve were created to be as one flesh (basar echad)], that He is a personal God who created us (Genesis Chapters 1 & 2), and that He has revealed Himself to us in three distinct manifestations: Abba (Father), Ben (Son), and Ruach ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit), as mentioned in Romans 8:14 - 17 and Matthew 28:18 - 20 - immersing in the name (authority) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • GOD THE FATHER (Abba):

Sources: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 3:4, 3:19, 31:9; Mal'akhi (Malachi) 3:1 - 6; Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:9, 6:32; Luke 10:21 - 22; Yochanan (John) 1:14; 4:23; 5:17 - 26, 6:27 - 46; Romans 8:14 - 15; 1 Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 1:1; Revelation 3:5, 3:21

  • SON OF GOD (HaBen) (GOD's SON):
  • God does have a Son - Yochanan (John) 1:29 - 34, 1:49, 3:14 - 18; Luke 12:35 - 37; Tehillim (Psalm 2) Mishlei (Proverbs) 30:4 - 6
  • The Son, called Yeshua (Jesus), meaning salvation, came to this world born of a virgin - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 7:14; Luke 1:30 - 35
  • The Son is God (Deity), and is worshipped as God, having existed eternally - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 9:6 - 7; Tehillim (Psalm 110:1; Mattityahu (Matthew) 28:18 - 20; Philippians 2:5 - 11; Colossians 1:15 - 19; Hebrews Chapter 1; Revelation 3:21; 4:8; 5:5 - 14
  • This One is the promised Mashiach (Messiah) of Israel - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 9:6 - 7, 11:1, Chapter 53; Dani'el Chapter 9; Yochanan (John) 1:17, 1:40 - 41, 1:45, 1:49; Mark 8:29.
  • He is the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star B'midbar (Numbers) 24:7; Revelation 22:16
  • He is our Passover, the Lamb of God - Yochanan (John) 1:29; 1Corinthians 5:7 - 9; Revelation Chapter 5

More on the prophecies pertaining to Messiah Yeshua can be found on our JHR Resouces section - link

  • GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT (Ruach HaKodesh):
  • Introduced in Genesis 1:2
  • In the Tenach, the Spirit of God came upon individuals during the times of our forefathers, like Moses, David (see Shmu'el Bet (2 Samuel) 23:1 - 3), and the Prophets, for the specific purposes.
  • In the New Covenant, the Messiah, Yeshua, promised His disciples that "the Comforter" would come to them after He was gone, described as the Spirit of Truth - Yochanan (John 14:17, 14:26), who was with them and would be in them. Yeshua further declared that the Spirit of Truth, would guide us into all truth and would glorify Him - the Messiah - not Himself - Yochanan (John 16:13 - 15). He empowers us - Acts 1:8. He seals us - Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. If we have not the Spirit, we are not His - Romans 8:9. He leads us and teaches us - Romans 8:14 -17. His indwelling enables us to live a godly life. "Repent, be immersed, and receive the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:38
  • MAN:
  • Created in the image of God - B'resheet (Genesis) 1:26 - 27, but:
  • through disobedience, man fell from his first state and became separated from God - B'resheet (Genesis) 2:17, 3:22 - 24. Therefore, according to the Scriptures, all men are born with a sinful nature - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 64:6; Tehillim (Psalms) 14:1 - 3, 49:7, 53:13; Romans 3:9 - 12, 3:23, 5:12.
  • Man's only hope for redemption (salvation) is through the atonement made by the Messiah - Vayikra (Leviticus 17:11; Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) Chapter 53; Dani'el 9:24 - 26; Yochanan (John) 1:12, 3:36; 1Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 9:11 - 14, 9:28, resulting in regeneration by the Holy Spirit - Titus 3:5, which is the new birth - Yochanan (John) 3:3 - 8. For by grace we are saved through faith, it is a gift of God - Ephesians 2:8 - 9.

 

  • RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT:

We believe in the resurrection of both the redeemed and the lost: the former to everlasting life and the latter to eternal separation from God, a state of everlasting punishment - Iyov (Job) 14:14, 19:25 - 27; Dani'el (Daniel) 12:2 - 3; Yochanan (John) 3:36, 11:25 - 26; Revelation 20:5 - 6, 20: 10 - 15, 21:7 - 8.

  • THE MESSIAH - The Redeemer:

The Scriptures promised two "comings" of the Messiah:

  • First coming
  • Promised in - Dani'el 9:24 - 26.
  • Its purpose was to make an atonement for sin Dani'el 9:24 - 26; Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) Chapter 53, 61:1 - 3 (see Luke 4:16 - 21 for account); Yochanan (John) 3:16 - 17; Romans 3:21 - 31; Hebrews Chapter 9 & 10.
  • Second coming
  • Promised coming in the air to receive the believers to Himself - Yochanan (John) 14:1 - 6; 1 Corinthians 15:51 - 57; 1Thessalonians 4:13 - 18..
  • Messiah's return to the earth.
  • The Redeemer shall come to Zion - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 59:20 - 21; Z'kharyah (Zechariah) 14:4.
  • Israel's spiritual redemption promised in the New Covenant - Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 31:31 - 40; Z'kharyah (Zechariah) 12:8 - 13:1; Romans 11:25 - 27; Hebrews 9:28.
  • Israel's national restoration is to recover the remnant of His people Israel from the four corners of the earth, and restore the Davidic Kingdom Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) Chpater 11 - to re-establish the throne and kingdom of David, which will last forever) - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 9:6 - 7; Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 23:3 - 8; Luke 1:30 - 33.
  • ISRAEL IN PROPHECY:

We believe in God's end-time plan for the nation of Israel and for the world. A central part of Messianic Judaism is the belief in the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel, as taught in the Scriptures. The greatest miracle of our day has been the re-establishment or rebirth of the State of Israel according to prophecy - Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) Chapters 11, 43, 54, 60, 61, 62 and 66; Yechezk'el (Ezekiel) 34:11 - 31, Chapters 36 thru 39; Hoshea Chapter 3; Amos 9:11 - 15; Z'kharyah (Zechariah) Chapters 12 thru 14.

  • MESSIANIC JUDAISM:
  • We recognize that Jewish people (physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, whether through the mother's or the father's blood-line) who place their faith in Israel's Messiah, Yeshua, continue to be Jewish according to the Scriptures - Romans 2:28 - 29. Gentiles who place their faith in Yeshua, are "grafted into" the Jewish olive tree of faith - Romans 11:17 - 25, becoming spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham - Galatians 3:28 - 29.
  • We observe and celebrate the Jewish Holy Days given by God to Israel, with their fulfillment in and through the Messiah Yeshua. We believe that true "Biblical Judaism," the faith of first century believers, which we seek to practice, acknowledges the continuity of faith in the one true God, revealed throughout the Scriptures, and ultimately manifested in God's Son, Yeshua the Messiah. We believe that salvation has always been "by faith," and that works of law, or righteous acts, have never saved anyone - B'resheet (Genesis 15:6; Romans Chapters 2 thru 6; Ephesians 2:8 - 9; Hebrews 11:6, 11:39.
  • We acknowledge that the New Covenant body of believers is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Yeshua the Messiah as the Promised Redeemer. The "middle wall of partition" has been broken down and now we worship the God of Israel together - 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:13 - 14.

More on what Messianic Judaism is, can be found in our article section - link

  • OTHER POSITIONS OF THE CONGREGATION:
  • Kosher - During Congregational functions that include Shabbat onegs and Festival meals, we adhere to biblical kosher as found in Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapter 11 and D'varim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 14. We encourage our congregation to follow our example in their lives but do not legislate these guidelines as conditions for attendance.
  • Pronunciation of "The Name" of Adonai - This congregation takes a similar position as many non-Messianic synagogues with regards to the pronunciation of the name of Adonai. Over the centuries, due to a lack of knowledge and understanding towards Jewish history and traditions, have led to errors that have become fully ingrained and adopted by believers in Messiah (the Church). We do not attempt to pronounce the Name of Adonai, represented by the Hebrew letters Yud Hey Vav Hey. In recognizing the God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov we use Adonai (LORD) or HaShem (The NAME)
  • Two House / Hebrew Roots - Even though there are similarites that both the Messianic movement and the Hebrew roots / Two House movement share in common, however, there are also some significant differences for which we do not agree. As such, this congregation is not affiliated with nor supports these teachings.

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