Synagogues Say Messianic Temple Misleads Public

A congregation of Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah has been accused of false advertising by all the other synagogues that share space with it in Fresno’s yellow pages.

Jewish leaders in Fresno have asked Pacific Bell to stop listing the Congregation B’nai Yeshua Messianic Synagogue under the heading “synagogues.”

“A messianic Jew is an oxymoron. Someone who believes the messiah has come is not a Jew,” said Rabbi Robert A. Seigel of Temple Beth Israel.

B’nai Yeshua’s 5-year-old Fresno congregation meets in the Calvary Presbyterian Church. Despite meeting in a Christian church, the members conduct traditional Jewish rituals such as Seder dinners at Passover, the commemoration of the Exodus of Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

“We’ve been accused of trying to misrepresent who we are,” said B’nai Yeshua’s president, Jim Morgenstern. “We are Jews. . . . Our congregation is more orthodox than the majority of congregations meeting anywhere.”

Claiming that Pac Bell has ignored the issue, Seigel wrote a letter to Dist. Atty. Ed Hunt on behalf of five synagogues. Seigel said the letter also reflects the view of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Center.

The letter accuses B’nai Yeshua of “proselytizing within the Jewish community by deceptive and misleading means.”

“By claiming to be a synagogue, it uses false advertising to prey on the weakest members of our community who do not know the difference: the very young, the very old and foreigners who have recently relocated here,” Siegel said.

Pac Bell spokeswoman Nancy Swasey said the company will investigate the complaint, but added: “Synagogue is part of their name. There is nothing we can do to change their name.”