From Scattered Believers to a Gathered Voice
For the AGM, 3 October 2026
The story of Jewish disciples of Jesus in France is much older than the modern Messianic Jewish movement. Individual Jewish believers can be traced through many centuries, Catholic and Protestant, scholars and activists, often isolated from one another. Rather than one continuous organisation, we see successive and overlapping communities in which Jewish identity, faith in Yeshua, fellowship, refugee relief and relationships with Israel came together in different ways.
A specifically Hebrew Christian Alliance began to emerge in the twentieth century. France had no delegate when the International Hebrew Christian Alliance first met in London in 1925, but Naphtali Rudnitzky represented France internationally in the 1930s and argued that a distinct Hebrew Christian Church was “a necessity” for the times.
The decisive moment came amid the refugee crisis. Friedrich Forell, himself a refugee from Nazi persecution, worked in Paris among hundreds of displaced Christians of Jewish background. On 13 January 1939, eighty-seven men and women gathered in Paris and formally founded the Hebrew Christian Alliance for France, with Forell as president, André Frankl as vice-president and E. Herzfeld as secretary.
After the Shoah, Arne Forsberg, Frankl and others rebuilt the fellowship among survivors and refugees. Later generations — including Bernard and Leib Feldman, Henry Pokryzwa, Paul Ghennassia and others — renewed French participation in the international movement. By 1980, the French branch was using the name Alliance Française des Juifs Messianiques, reflecting a wider transition from “Hebrew Christian” to an explicitly Messianic Jewish identity.
So the history we remember at the recent AGM is not simply the history of an institution. It is the story of the Almighty sustaining Jewish disciples of Yeshua through dispersion, persecution, fragile organisation, rebuilding and renewal. The central question has remained remarkably constant: can we confess Yeshua as Messiah without disappearing as Jews? The Alliance has provided a space in which Jewish identity and discipleship to Yeshua can belong together, while its members remain connected both to the Jewish people and to the wider Body of Messiah.
As the Alliance gathered in Paris on 3 October 2026, we give thanks for those who have gone before us and pray that scattered sheep may become a gathered flock — under the care of the Shepherd of Israel, Yeshua the Messiah
Prayer — Hebrew
רועה ישראל, אלוהי אברהם, יצחק ויעקב,
אנו מודים לך על נאמנותך לעמך ישראל ועל חסדך מדור לדור.
אנו מודים לך על כל תלמידי ישוע היהודים בצרפת שהלכו לפנינו — על אמונתם, אומץ לבם ועדותם.
קבץ את הנפוצים, חזק את החלשים, רפא את הפצועים, ותן לאחינו ולאחיותינו אחדות, חכמה ואומץ.
ברך את האספה הכללית הזאת ואת הברית היהודית המשיחית בצרפת. תן לה להיות עדה נאמנה לישוע, ברכה לישראל ולכנסייה, וכלי של פיוס ושלום.
הדרך אותנו ברוחך, ושמור אותנו נאמנים לייעוד שנתת לנו.
בשם ישוע, רועה ישראל והרועה הטוב.
אמן.
Prière — Français
Berger d’Israël, Dieu d’Abraham, d’Isaac et de Jacob, nous te remercions pour ta fidélité envers ton peuple Israël et pour ta grâce de génération en génération.
Nous te remercions pour tous les disciples juifs de Yeshoua en France qui nous ont précédés — pour leur foi, leur courage et leur témoignage.
Rassemble ceux qui sont dispersés, fortifie ceux qui sont faibles, guéris ceux qui sont blessés, et donne à nos frères et sœurs unité, sagesse et courage.
Bénis cette Assemblée générale et l’Alliance juive messianique en France. Qu’elle soit un témoin fidèle de Yeshoua, une bénédiction pour Israël et pour l’Église, et un instrument de réconciliation et de paix.
Conduis-nous par ton Esprit et garde-nous fidèles à la vocation que tu nous as donnée.
Au nom de Yeshoua, le Berger d’Israël et le Bon Berger.
Amen.
Prayer — English
Shepherd of Israel, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
we thank you for your faithfulness to your people Israel and for your grace from generation to generation.
We thank you for all the Jewish disciples of Yeshua in France who have gone before us — for their faith, courage and witness.
Gather those who are scattered, strengthen those who are weak, heal those who are wounded, and give our brothers and sisters unity, wisdom and courage.
Bless this Annual General Meeting and the Messianic Jewish Alliance in France. May it be a faithful witness to Yeshua, a blessing to Israel and to the Church, and an instrument of reconciliation and peace.
Lead us by your Spirit and keep us faithful to the calling you have given us.
In the name of Yeshua, the Shepherd of Israel and the Good Shepherd.
Amen.
