Rabbi Dr. Stuart Dauermann

Born into a Conservative Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, Stuart Dauermann attended Manhattan School of Music (MSM), earning degrees in Music Theory (1966) and Music Education (1971). In 1962, while at MSM, and working as a professional musician, he attended an informal discussion group and became convinced that Yeshua of Nazareth is Israel's Messiah.  He's still convinced and enjoys convincing others.

By the mid-1960's, working as a school teacher, Stuart sensed he was being drawn to invest his life in interpreting Yeshua to the wider Jewish community, and in interpreting Jewish life and identity to the Christian world. First as a volunteer, and later as a professional, he specialized in developing creative ways to communicate catalytic ideas exposing and replacing paradigms no longer suited to a changing world. As "the Father of Messianic Jewish music," beginning in the early late 1960's he wrote, and later performed and recorded Jewish music expressing faith in Yeshua as Messiah.  In 1989, after seventeen years as a mission agency Music Director, he made a career shift, earning an M.A. and PhD in Intercultural Studies at the Fuller Seminary School of Intercultural Studies (1994 and 2004 respectively), and in December 1991 began his service as Rabbi of Ahavat Zion Messianic Synagogue, Beverly Hills, California. He is now the rabbi of Shuvah Yisrael in Plainview, NY.

Beginning in the late 1980's, Dr. Dauermann sought to assist the Messianic Jewish movement toward renewal through helping the movement reconnect with the Jewish past.  Toward this end, he and group of colleagues founded Hashivenu, a Messianic Jewish think tank with the mission statement, "Toward a Mature Messianic Judaism."  Since its beginnings, Hashivenu has sown change in the Messianic Jewish world through holding annual leadership forums. Out of this matrix, Stuart assisted Mark Kinzer in the founding and funding of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (MJTI).

Rabbi Dauermann's Los Angeles based radio program, Shalom Talk (see http://www.shalomtalk.com), was part of a diversified and growing international multi-media enterprise, Messianic Judaism Media, with its mission statement being "Changing the world through changing minds about Messianic Judaism."

Published works include a history and analysis of the rabbinical role, The Rabbi as a Surrogate Priest ( Eugene , OR : Pickwick Press, 2009), Christians and Jews Together (Wipf and Stock, 2009), and Keeping the Faith in Interfaith Relationships (Wipf and Stock, 2009), and Son of David: Healing the Vision of the Messianic Jewish Movement (Wipf and Stock, 2010).   Currently he is working on a post-supersessionist missiology text, Converging Destinies: Jews, Christians and the Mission of God, for Brazos Press.

Stuart has been married to Naomi since 1975. They have three grown children, and lived in Southern California for many decades, and now lives in New York City.

Why I think the MJRC and Standardized Practice is Important, Etc.

I made a mid-career transition in 1989 so that I might devote 15 years to foundational research to enrich the Messianic Jewish movement's commitment to Jewish life by developing a context-appropriate understanding of the role of the rabbi. Since Messianic Jewish life is meant to be covenantal life, our rabbis must be exemplars of this covenantal calling, and facilitators and catalysts of its realization in the communities they lead.

The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council plays a pivotal role in achieving these ends, helping the Messianic Jewish movement to mature and develop qualified leaders and appropriate standards of practice. MJRC rabbis not only develop these standards, we also hold one another accountable to embody them.  Any Messianic Jewish rabbi who believes that the covenantal calling of the Jewish people persists for Messianic Jews would do well to join with us.  We are seeking others who agree with us on the need to address these issues as communal projects rather than every person simply doing what is right in his own eyes.

 

Additional Info

  • Contact Info:


    Ahavat Zion Messianic Synagogue
    432 S. Beverly Drive
    Beverly Hills , CA 90212
    Phone: 310-551-0659