The History of First Fruits of Zion

The Early Days

They never planned on starting a ministry. In 1992 Boaz Michael and his wife Amber (Tikvah) began a small newsletter called Israel Today for their local Messianic congregation in Colorado. Soon after they received subscription requests from all over the country. They changed the name of the publication to First Fruits of Zion and began filling subscriptions. A year later they were also sending out commentaries on the weekly Torah portions—the very first Torah Club.

In 1993 the Father made it clear that He desired the ministry to move to Israel, and He provided the means for the Michael’s to make aliyah and relocate. The FFOZ Israel office opened in 1994. While the staff was still mainly located in Israel, plans began for the HaYesod discipleship course, a teaching introducing believers to their Hebrew Roots.

Growth & Development

FFOZ found wider distribution, and began hosting conferences such as Jars of Clay (1997), The Letters (2001), Yeshurun (2003), Yeshua, Yeshua, Yeshua (2003), The Last Days (2004), Trembling at the Word (2005), The Wooden Podium (2005), Pray in the Spirit (2006), Knocking on Heaven’s Gate (2006), To Whom Shall We Go? (2007), and Shabbat Shalom (2008).

In addition the ministry has continued to publish Torah Clubs Volumes 1-5 and Children's Torah Club along with Hey Torah Kids! weekly audio cds. In addition, many books have been published, such as: The Letter Writer (2002), Fellow Heirs (2003), The Mystery of the Gospel (2003), Holy Cow! (2005), Restoration (2005), King of the Jews (2006), Mezuzah (2007), Breaking Bread (2008), Hallowed be Thy Name (2008), We Give Thanks (2008), Boundary Stones (2008) and others. Furthermore, FFOZ also provides an introduction to the world of the Hebrew language with Getting Started in Hebrew (2008).