The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC) was formally established in May 2006. It consists of a group of ordained Messianic Jewish Rabbis and associated leaders who share a common vision for Messianic Jewish practice rooted in Torah, instructed by Tradition, and faithful to Messiah Yeshua in the twenty-first century.

The MJRC had its beginnings five years earlier. At that time a set of Messianic Jewish leaders from New England invited some of their colleagues from outside the region to join them in working on a common set of halakhic standards for themselves and their congregations. While other areas of Messianic Jewish life are of profound importance, such as worship, ethics, education, and social concern, we believed that halakhic standards had received far less attention than their place in Messianic Jewish life warranted.

The Messianic Jewish movement consists mainly of people unaccustomed to or uncomfortable with a traditionally observant Jewish life, and those we are seeking to reach for Yeshua generally have a similar background. In large part this results from the high rate of secularization and assimilation among twenty-first century Jews. However, this profile also fits our vocation as a movement for Yeshua within the Jewish world. Just as he came to seek and save the lost, and devoted his energy especially to reaching the disenfranchised among the Jewish people, so our mission is directed primarily to Jews who have little knowledge of or attachment to traditional Jewish practice.

In light of this reality, the MJRC decided that it should not formulate standards of observance that aim to be an authoritative interpretation of the Torah's contemporary requirements, but instead should articulate realistic and practical guidelines that point our communities toward the way of covenant faithfulness. We want to set out on a journey with Yeshua that will lead us all, in diverse ways, to a richer and fuller life of Jewish observance.