Rabbi Messner ?

[Bruce101]

Shabbat Shalom!
Hopefully this will not stir up a debate.
I am new to the "Hebrew Roots" movement. I was loaned thirty hours of video by Rabbi Ralph Messer titled "Torah 101".
What an education! I have watched 22 of the 30 tapes. Next is Torah 201.
What is the general view on his teachings here?
Since I am new to this, and his is the only in-depth teaching that I have been priviledged to see. I have nothing to compare it to.
Thanks
Bruce

[insaneinthebrain]

I don't know of a Rabbi Messner, but if you're talking about Ralph Messer, then I'm a little familiar with him. He has a couple of teachings at www.torah.tv (http://www.torah.tv) , his website. I see nothing wrong with them.

I will, however, state that it bugs me when someone who hasn't gone through Yeshiva claims the title "Rabbi." Not that I feel one must be a legit Rabbi to teach Torah, I just see it as being as honest as me calling myself "doctor." Even if I never claimed expertise in a field, or specified between MD and PhD, the fact of the matter is it's a title I never earned. I feel that a pastor calling himself a Rabbi is similar. ;)

[Bruce101]

Messer is who I am talking about.
I believe he said that he Chabad for five years. Other than that I know nothing of his bio.
Just that his teachings have been very illuminating.
Bruce

[Talmidah]

Messer is who I am talking about.
I believe he said that he Chabad for five years.

He did what at Chabad for five years? Attended? Studied? Was rabbi?

[Talmidah]

Well, according to his bio, it says
For more than twenty years, Pastor Messer has taught about the Hebraic Roots of the Christian faith to all denominations. Pastor Messer is an itinerate Rabbi (teacher) who teaches the Torah - a Hebrew word for God's Teaching and Instruction - up and down the Front Range of Colorado and across the nation.So, I guess he calls himself "Rabbi" in the sense of it meaning 'teacher'...just like lots of other messianic "Rabbis", since while it refers to him as 'Pastor' in this paragraph, the previous and subsequent paragraphs, as well as all the headings, refer to him as "Rabbi Ralph Messer" or "Rabbi Messer".



Edited to add:
I found some more information about Ralph Messer, regarding a conversion, at the following site, however I obviously can't vouch for the veracity of the facts. http://www.seekgod.ca/mainstreaming.htm