"For us in the Jewish community, anyone who claimsthat Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate. Through that belief she has placed herself outside the Jewish community. Whether she cares to define herself as a Christian or as a 'fulfilled Jew,' 'Messianic Jew,' or any other designation is irrelevant; to us, she is clearly a Christian." ₁

When he asked the Navy to reconsider, he was told that the senior Chaplain Command had made the ruling and that nothing could be done at the time. Given the choice between wearing the cross on his insignia, or leaving the Navy, he chose to leave.

Yeshiva World News (YVN), a Jewish news source, reported:

"The decision requiring Messianic Jews to wear the cross was made officially on November 26, 2008 by the President of the Navy Uniform Board, Vice Admiral M. E. Ferguson U.S. Navy Deputy Chief of Naval Operations."

Reaction from the Jewish community was generally positive. There were 23 comments posted to the YWN web site. Some were:

	"DeepThinker" wrote: "The ?Messianic Jews? are nothing but a fraud, perpetrated by the evangelical missionary groups on the Jewish community to confuse the ignorant into converting from Judaism to Christianity. Fraud, is Fraud, is Fraud -- no matter what the label. Thank G-D, the navy is not cooperating with this deception!"
	Mayan Dvash wrote: "Well, the Vice Admiral has the insight to see that 'Messianic Judaism' is not Judaism."
	"12786" wrote: "I agree 100% with the decision of the Navy Uniform Board. The Messianic movement is way too extreme in their beliefs and the Navy was right to not allow their representative to be labeled as a Jewish Chaplain."
	Miulhouse wrote: "Messianic Jews are Christians, usually Baptists, who pretend to be Jews in order to missionize. They believe everything that all Christians believe; many of them don't even have Jewish mothers. The name, which implies that they're normal Jews who just happen to believe that You-Know-Who was moshiach, is a fraud."
	"Binyomin5766" wrote: "... these messianics are difficult to categorize since they don't have a set of common standards beyond a general adherence to Christian theology. In my experience with the movement, though, most participants are goyim who have some kind of interest in things Jewish. Of course, they really don't like people like me; people going the 'other way' disrupt the work they are trying to do."
	"Shtenderbender" wrote: "I don't think the Navy's point was to identify him as not Jewish, all they were doing was catering to their customers; a Jewish serviceman doesn?t want a Messianic whatever as his chaplain."
	"iWatas" wrote: "Bravo! This is truth in advertising. Jews-for-Yashky are not selling Judaism, so they should not have a Jewish symbol on their uniforms. Understand that a LOT of people find religion when serving in the armed forces. And many secular Jews are not sure what to do - so messianic Christians do a lot of harm by preying on the ignorant Jewish soldier who looks for spiritual guidance. This single act certainly has saved Jewish neshamas. The Chaplain?s office of the United States Armed Forces has therefore saved the world." 2 [Spelling and abbreviations modified from the original]

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