Orthodox, Messianic Jews Clash : Religion: Factions clash at conference of groups believing Christ has a role in Judaism.

“Torah, Torah, Torah!” the bearded Jew from Tustin, the tassels of his prayer shawl dangling from his shirt, shouted at his spiritual adversary. “You quote the Torah, and you talk lies!”

After a few initial moments of quiet truce Wednesday, it had come down to this: a toe-to-toe, Torah-thumping confrontation inside the Anaheim Sheraton, between Jews who believe in Jesus Christ and those who don’t, over who lays proper claim to the title of Jew.

About a thousand members of the Union for Messianic Jewish Congregations--an international group whose members believe they can follow the rituals and holidays of Judaism but at the same time recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah--are in town for their 11th annual national convention. It opened Wednesday and continues through Saturday with seminars and prayer services.

Here to mark their arrival were about a dozen orthodox Jews from an anti-missionary group called Jews for Judaism, with offices in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Amid rising rates of Jewish conversion and intermarriage and low birth rates, they see the rejection of the Messianics’ message as essential to the very survival of their religion.

“We’re the Navy SEALS of Judaism,” declared Rabbi David Elliezrie, who heads the North Orange County Chabad Center and is part of the anti-Messianic effort.

Wednesday’s confrontation between the two groups was left unresolved, as hotel security guards broke up the shouting match and sent the two groups back to their respective corners.

Estimating that as many as 120,000 U.S. Jews have converted to Christianity in just the last two decades, Rabbi Tovia Singer, New Jersey regional director of Jews for Judaism, said: “The Hebrew-Christian community has literally chopped off a chunk of the Jewish people. . . . They are tearing our families to pieces, and we need to stop it.”

But the Messianics organizing the Anaheim conference call the efforts of Jews for Judaism something else: infiltration.

“They’re here solely to disrupt our conference,” said event coordinator Martin Thuna of the San Fernando Valley. “And they don’t care how far they have to go to do it.”

About two decades into the movement’s development, Jewish Messianics now number as many as 100,000 in the United States and Canada, according to estimates of some leaders.

The various Messianic sects are loosely linked under an international umbrella group that says it gets 90% of its funding from Christian evangelical groups.

While the group known as Jews for Jesus is not directly affiliated with the Union for Messianic Jewish Congregations, several of its members are attending this week’s conference in what they described as a show of support for a common cause.