The Messianic Synagogue, true to its direct connection to Judaism, often incorporates musical materials with Israeli motifs. Congregations may have a worship leader called a “cantor,” but the art of solo cantorial singing, common in Jewish temples, is rarely encountered. Accompaniment for singing is most often supplied by the guitar, strings, tambourine, and—more recently—electronic equipment such as synthesizers. Drama, the visual arts, and carpentry for such important features as the ark do find ready use in Messianic Synagogue worship.
Music
Singing has frequently been an important part of worship in the synagogue, and the Messianic synagogue is no exception. The use of praise-and-worship choruses and songs has become increasingly common during the past twenty years. Folk songs from Israel, or ones modeled on Israeli motifs, have been popular from the inception of the Jews for Jesus song ministry known as the Liberated Wailing Wall. In the early 1970s the popular duo Lamb continued the trend, and Joel Chernoff, Lamb’s lead singer, continues to write music for use in the Messianic synagogue.
Yiddish folk music has also served as a source for occasional ballads, although it has had relatively little impact on contemporary worship materials produced within the Messianic Movement. In addition, songs originally made popular by non-Messianic recording artists have been slightly modified for congregational use in Messianic synagogues. In most of the local congregations, solo vocal music has enjoyed relatively little prominence.
Early in the history of the Messianic Movement, the piano accompaniment was supplemented by the guitar. Guitar accompaniment continues to be common, largely because many Messianic congregations do not own their own buildings, which is due primarily to the youth of the movement and the financial instability of many of the congregations. Strings and tambourines have also been traditionally used, with more recent music featuring electronic music, using electronic tapes and synthesizers.
A few congregations include some form of dancing in their worship services, usually, perhaps universally, based on the hora, an Israeli folk dance. This dance is often accompanied by clarinet, flute, and recorder. It remains relatively uncommon in liturgical worship services and may be less common now than fifteen or twenty years ago, although statistical evidence is not readily available.
Messianic synagogues, whether liturgical or not, often have a worship leader called a cantor, but Jewish chazzanut (the art of cantorial music) is infrequently encountered. Nevertheless, chazzanut has a significant influence on the chanting of the liturgical prayers in those congregations where chanting is practiced. From time to time, attempts to develop more traditional chazzanut have been made. For example, in the 1970s the cantor of Congregation Adat Hatikvah in Chicago studied the cantorial music of Waldman and Pierce and utilized Eastern European, rather than Israeli, music in the liturgy of that synagogue. However, there have been few, if any, examples of Messianic cantors following that example during the years since the mid-1970s. For most of the congregations throughout the history of the Messianic Movement, the practices found in Israel have had a far more formative influence than those of Eastern Europe, and influence not limited to music alone.
Drama
In a number of Messianic congregations, especially the less liturgical ones, drama groups have emerged as a significant worship resource. The pervasive influence of Jews for Jesus in non-liturgical congregations has enhanced this trend, although it does not entirely account for its existence. Purim has been traditionally associated with costume and drama, and the building of the Sukkah (the Tabernacle for the Festival of Booths, Sukkot, in the early autumn) lends itself to dramatizations. However, the primary use of drama is in outreach, both in explaining the Messianic Movement to churches and in explaining Yeshua to Jewish audiences. Dramatization is only occasionally a substitute for preaching.
Liturgical efforts, such as the prayer books edited by Michael Becker (Machzor for High Holy Days [Chicago: Congregation B’nai Maccabim, 1986]) and John Fisher (Messianic Services For Festivals and Holy Days [Palm Harbor, Fla.: Menorah Ministries, 1992]), offer the Messianic Movement resources with which to develop creative new liturgies, but the Messianic Movement is handicapped in this area by the relative newness of the liturgy in the ministries of many of the older congregational leaders. Lack of depth in Hebrew is another serious problem the movement must seek to overcome, and this has been addressed through the efforts of both the Union of Messianic Congregations and within individual synagogues. However, until the Messianic Movement produces more than minimal familiarity with the Hebrew language and historic chazzanut, it is unlikely that Messianism will be set free to handle liturgical materials creatively.
Visual Arts
The Messianic Movement has made extensive use of the visual arts such as banners, scroll coverings, portable coverings for walls of worship halls borrowed from other institutions, and graphics for printed worship literature, including prayer books of various kinds. Its Hebrew Christian wing (primarily Jews for Jesus) has been extraordinarily creative in developing visual outreach materials for street evangelism. Hineni Ministries (the name Jews for Jesus uses within the Jewish community) has developed a glossy newsletter for apologetic purposes, called Issues, which demonstrates increasing maturity and sophistication.
A final element the cannot be overlooked in a survey of the visual arts in the worship of Messianic congregations in the manufacture and care of the arks. The Aron ha-Kodesh (Hebrew for “ark”) is a central feature in the synagogue and is no less a symbol in the Messianic synagogue. It houses the Torah scrolls, and its curtain or door is opened at key points of the liturgy as a symbol of access to God through prayer. The limited budget often available to Messianic congregations has an impact on the sophistication of their aronim (arks), but not on the congregations’ commitment to creating or obtaining these important religious artifacts. Often hand-made, the arks evidence artful design and a high level of carpentry skills.