Calendar
Assumptions about the Assumption
It’s time to redeem Miriam the mother of our Master and give her the honor and respect that she deserves and is in fact given in the Gospels themselves. The best way to do that in Messianic Judaism is to look at how holy figures are honored in Jewish tradition.
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7-min
Comforting Words
When something traumatic or emotionally painful happens to someone we care about, we try to comfort the person, offering words of consolation and sympathy. We try to point out the bright side, and we try to lift the person’s spirits by invoking future hopes. That’s what the Sabbath of Consolation tries to do for Israel.
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4-min
Light Shines Brightest in the Dark
When great tragedy strikes, there are always those who rise above and overcome. God has always had those who have remained faithful to him despite the surrounding circumstances, and to be one of those faithful few is the highest calling a person can accept.
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9-min
Fire on the Mountain
Jewish tradition hails the Festival of Weeks as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 20:18 the Hebrew really says, “They saw the voices and the torches.” What does it mean, “the people saw voices”? How does one see a sound? How does one see a voice?
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11-min
The Forgotten Festival
Both Rosh Chodesh Sivan and Shavu’ot are continuously paired with a theme of spiritual unity and love. During this month of Sivan, we should not only focus on remembering the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, but also make an effort to bring our communities to a place of unity and peace.
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4-min
The Beloved City
During the Six-Day War, one of the most stirring moments occured, which was captured on camera and tape, when Lt. General Mordechai Gur announced, "The Temple Mount is in our hands … the Temple Mount is in our hands!" Why was this so very significant?
6-min
Sparks of Light in the Exile
Our beloved modern Israel was founded during these days. We celebrate that modern miracle for the Jewish people each year, during these days, on Yom Ha’atzmaut. But we are told to mourn during these days. Really? What’s the significance of that? Where is Yeshua in all of this?
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7-min
Counting Our Days
Counting the Omer may be simply counting days, but there is more to it than that. Each new day on the journey toward Shavu’ot is a part of the overall process of discipleship and a key factor in how we can prepare our hearts to be a useful part of God’s plan of redemption.
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7-min
I Am the LORD, Your Healer
The people who left Egypt were broken and battered victims of appalling abuse. The people who stood at Mount Sinai were regenerated, both physically and spiritually whole. Whether the cure comes in a miraculous way or through medical treatment, we must never forget that all healing comes from God who created us and keeps us alive day after day.
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7-min
Counting the Omer
Why didn’t the LORD simply specify the date on the Hebrew calendar, 6 Sivan, on which to celebrate Shavu’ot? Counting the Omer links Shavu’ot explicitly to Pesach. Counting each day is like adding a link to a chain. In a sense, therefore, Shavu’ot is the ultimate fulfillment of Pesach.
6-min
Rosh Chodesh Nisan: A Time of Renewal
Rosh Chodesh is a time of renewal. Just as the moon is made new again so there is a spiritual power present at that time for us to begin again and transform our lives. But Rosh Chodesh Nisan is even more special.
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6-min
Adar and the Search for Joy in a Discontented World
When we view the world with eyes that look forward to the beauty and bounty of the world under the rule of King Messiah when he returns, our hearts should be filled with hope. Our Master teaches that we should rejoice in the hope of his coming.
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7-min
Happy New Year, Again!
Judaism has four New Years, and one of them, Tu Bishvat, is for trees. Why? Since we don’t see that specifically laid out in the Bible, it must be those dastardly old rabbis at it again, right? Or maybe there’s something important we could learn about the role of rabbinic authority in ancient Israel.
8-min
Let No One Judge You
No more Sabbath? Colossians 2:16-17 tells us not to let others pass judgment on us regarding what we eat and drink or regarding the Sabbath and festivals. When Paul is seen as a faithful and observant Jew, his brilliant teachings such as this one inspire us to pursue Torah with joy.
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7-min
Asarah B'Tevet: The Fast of the Tenth Month
The siege was headed up by the notorious Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and eventually led to the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Therefore a fast takes place every year in the tenth month (Tevet) on the tenth day.
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3-min
Kislev and the Concealed Light
The winter months bring with them darkness and cold. The same God who forged the light also brought darkness into being. It is the darkness that gives our light context and purpose. On Rosh Chodesh Kislev we remember Chaim Yedidiah Pollack, a great Messianic luminary, and consider his insights into the Hanukkah candles.
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6-min
The Symbol Is Not Simple
“In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation” (Leviticus 23:24). A zichron teruah is a memorial proclaimed with the blast of the shofar—a memorial, an audible symbol, designed to have us remember something. But what should we remember?
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8-min
The Fast of Gedaliah
The Fast of Gedaliah is another wonderful opportunity for both Messianic Jews and Gentiles to connect with the Master’s words, mourn, and pray for the current state of the world, and it serves as a physical reminder that we need to be eagerly anticipating and working toward Yeshua’s second coming.
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7-min
Rosh Chodesh Elul: Confounding the Satan
In the Hebrew Roots world, it is common for shofarot to appear at nearly every function. Shofar blasts introduce the start of everything from Shabbat services to Passover seders, since it supposedly “confounds the Satan.” But by setting the shofar in its proper context, we are able to perceive its powerful biblical messages
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7-min
The Death of Yeshua on Tisha B’Av
Messianic Jews should make it their custom to study the story of the Master’s death on Tisha b’Av. Messianic disciples should have a reading of the gospel narratives of the death of the Master, and compose our own kinnot (laments) about the day that his blood was shed for the sins of Israel and for the sins of the world.
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11-min
The Death of Paul Levertoff
There came a moment when he asked me not to pray for his recovery, begged me to ask all the friends to desist. Then, when he still lingered, he wondered why God kept him here, he seemed to see no reason for it. I, oddly, had to turn counselor to him. I suggested that to die was easy; to live was the thing that needed courage and endurance.
10-min
Remembering Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles
The date the the death of the Apostle Paul has been preserved in the Syriac Church tradition. The source is called “The Book of the Bee.” It was compiled in the twelfth century by Solomon, the Bishop of Bassora and preserves a lot of very Semitic-sounding material, which may indeed go back to the early Jewish believers.
6-min
The Fast of Tammuz and the Story of Redemption
Today, we observe the seventeenth of Tammuz as a time of fasting and repentance. It commences a three-week period of mourning. Observant Jews refrain from listening to music, conducting weddings, wearing new clothing, and even getting haircuts. These three weeks culminate in the darkest day of the year: the fast day of the ninth of Av when the Temple was destroyed.
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7-min
A Time to Pray for the Redemption
The seventeenth of Tammuz begins a three-week period of mourning which culminate with the ninth of Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temple. The Three Weeks should be a time of increased Torah study and giving of charity—in keeping with the verse, “Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by charity” (Isaiah 1:27).
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4-min
Tammuz: Darkest before Dawn
The first half of 2020 has not been the most joyful of times, no matter what hemisphere you live in. The last thing we want to think about now is another period of sadness, recalling tragedy, and mourning the loss of something dear.
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6-min
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
What is Lag Ba’Omer, and why would a Messianic Jew care? Meet Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai), a second-century hero of the Jewish people and a favorite subject of legend. Messianic Jewish pioneer Theophilus Lucky believed that Rashbi was inspired by the Holy Spirit and the teachings of Yeshua.
14-min
Dag BaOmer: A Fishy Holiday
Why was the precise number of fish noted in the narrative of John 21:11? Surely it would have sufficed to say “many fish,” or at perhaps “more than 150.” The mention of the exact number seems to imply that there is something significant about that number, especially in such a symbolic and mystical book as John.
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14-min
Parashat HaChodesh: Transcending Time
A great freedom will come with the ultimate redemption. If time equates to freedom, then ultimate freedom will come in a world where time itself is an unlimited resource. The only way to achieve this is with eternal life, a life that transcends time. This is one reason why Shabbat is a “foretaste of the age to come.”
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6-min
The Sabbath of the Cow
In Temple times, the special reading of Numbers 19 reminded those in attendance at the synagogue that they needed to prepare for Passover. They needed to undergo the ritual purification with the ashes of the red heifer prior to Passover. Otherwise they would not be ritually fit to eat the Passover sacrifice.
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5-min
The Fast of Esther and the Spiritual Art of War
On the day before Purim, we fast from the first light of dawn until after reading the book of Esther. This fast trains us in the most ancient of all martial arts: spiritual combat. Even today, otherwise godly people fret about perceived existential threats. While evil must be opposed, let us not forget where the true battle rages.
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7-min
Behold the Spring
Tu B’Shvat is the Israeli Arbor Day! Environmental awareness is promoted and celebrated around the country and, on Kibbutzim, it is celebrated as an agricultural holiday with hay rides given to kids and families.
6-min
Planted on the Mountains of Israel
Unless you have visited Israel, you may not be aware of the nation’s vastly diverse landscape. Israel is a land of beauty, full of mountains, hills, valleys, deserts, canyons, rocks, trees, plants, and foliage of all kinds. The earliest Zionist pioneers in the 1800’s participated in preparing Israel for her future children.
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17-min
The Rain Came Down
Moses passed away on Adar 7, so Jewish tradition teaches that he spent the month of Shevat to give his last instructions and warnings to the people. He also is said to have translated the Torah into seventy languages during Shevat.
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3-min
The Suffering Messiah in the Prayers of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is a day of complete fasting and intense prayer. It is the holiest day of the year, when we are purified from our sins. Many traditional Jewish prayer books for the Day of Atonement contain a surprising passage that describes the suffering, forgiveness, and new creation found in the Messiah.
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7-min
Job, Gentiles, and the Ninth of the Month of Av
Many non-Jewish disciples of Yeshua with whom I come into contact express a lack of interest and disconnect with these fast days and the traditions that surround them. They dismiss them as “traditions of men” that are “not biblical, just Jewish” as if somehow just because they are Jewish they are not for us or, worse yet, are not important.
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6-min
From Despair to Hope: The Month of Av
Even at the beginning of exile and the destruction of the Temple, God promises that one day the Messiah will come and redeem Israel. The story is not so much about predicting when the Messiah will be born but to point out that even in total darkness there is light in the distance.
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7-min
The Fast of Tammuz
Three weeks before the fast of Tisha b’Av is the Fast of Tammuz. This is traditionally associated with the “fast of the fourth month” in Zechariah 8:19 and takes place on the seventeenth of the fourth month. It is said that this day is the anniversary of Moses breaking the first set of tablets at Mount Sinai upon seeing the Golden Calf.
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4-min
Rosh Chodesh Tammuz and the Summer Harvester
As the summer month of Tammuz begins, we look to the fruit trees expecting an ample harvest. Yeshua instructed us to see the growth of new fig branches as a prophetic sign of apocalyptic events, but this seems like a strange comparison. Insights from Ezekiel and first-century Hebrew provide a new interpretation of Yeshua’s parable.
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7-min
C. S. Lewis on the Ascension of Yeshua
Did Yeshua literally ascend like an astronaut, or did he become a spiritual entity at the Ascension? In his book, Miracles, C. S. Lewis objects to any spiritualization of the ascension of the ascended Messiah. He insists that we see Yeshua, even after the Ascension, as a physical being and not merely a spiritual entity.
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7-min
A Window in Time
We have not truly left the slavery of Egypt until we have received God’s instructions and his Holy Spirit dwells within us enabling us to perform his will. In that sense the Counting of the Omer is a count that should count for something. This is not a passive count but an active count.
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5-min
Christian Pop and Counting the Omer
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalms 90:12 ESV). The person who counts their days finds value therein and uses them to learn and become wise. How much more during the days of counting the Omer.
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8-min
A Different Night: The Timing of the Seder
In Judaism, time flows like a rolling wave that loops back on itself even as it pushes forward. That means that instead of commemorating the redemption, we have a brief opportunity to re-live it. Instead of rehearsing a future event, we experience a foretaste of it.
8-min
When Adar Enters, Joy Increases
The month of Adar offers evidence that, no matter how bad things may seem to be, they are going to get better. The same God who transformed the month of Adar from a month of mourning into a month of joy will surely transform our sorrows into joys.
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Adar, fasting, Haman, happiness, joy, mourning, Purim, Rosh Chodesh, sadness, Tisha B'Av
6-min
Bag It and Tag It
This coming Shabbat is Shabbat Shekalim. On this Sabbath a special maftir reading of Exodus 30:11-16 occurs to remind us that in the days of the Temple, the annual half-shekel Temple tax was collected during the month of Adar. It is around this time that the story of the shekel in the fish’s mouth from Matthew 17:24-17 took place
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5-min
The Day of Remembrance
The Bible says that the first day of the seventh month is a “memorial.” A memorial is a time or place where one calls attention to past events. But what does this day commemorate? Some hints can be found in the ancient prayers that we recite in our synagogues on Rosh HaShanah.
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7-min
The Ruin of Zion
The Bible states we should mourn with mourners and that the mourners of the destruction of the Temple will be comforted. Rabbi Israel Pick, a pioneer of Messianic Judaism, wrote this lament during the fast of Tisha B’Av.
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4-min
Eight Connections between the Red Heifer and Redemption
As the month of Nisan approaches, in our synagogues we read several special passages that are important for the season. One of these readings, Parashat Parah is the passage regarding the red heifer. This mysterious ritual fills us with anticipation for the final redemption through Messiah.
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7-min
Shabbat HaGadol
Judaism considers the Festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread as the prototype for the final redemption. The tradition of setting a place at the seder table for Elijah the prophet reflects the ardent belief that Messiah will bring redemption at Passover. As the anticipated herald of the Messiah, Elijah will need to be present as the festival begins.
5-min
Shevat: When the Torah Comes Alive
It was on the first day of this lunar month that Moses began to deliver his final words to the Israelites shortly before his death. He repeated and clarified the Torah to the new generation. This incident was their Sinai experience, the moment when the Torah came alive in their hearts.
3-min
The Month of Ethanim
Remembering the original name of this month can hold value for us. The mysteriousness of the word eitanim opens the door for extrapolation and creative interpretation. Theophilus Lucky decided to be creative in his interpretation, and in doing so he found useful hints in this name that caused him to piece together a famous story in the Gospels.
8-min
Rosh HaShanah in Israel: Renewal and Rejoicing
The fall holidays, or, as they are commonly known, the High Holidays, are a time of refreshment, renewal, taking stock of our lives and our goals, and refining who and what we are and want to become. It is a new year in Israel—a year ripe with the anticipatory promise of the goodness and mercy of God.
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5-min
Don Henley, Elul, and Forgiveness
Without directly referencing God, Yeshua, the Bible, Judaism, or Elul, Don Henley’s song gets to the heart of some matters that are very important for us to consider as we approach the high holidays.
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6-min
The High Holidays in the Early Church
With Rosh HaShanah and the beginning of the High Holidays only a few days away, I thought I would post a blog reviewing some of my material on this from my book, God-Fearers. It should be no shock to anyone that the early believers both Jew and Gentile celebrated the festivals of Israel even after coming to Messiah.
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6-min
Is the Jewish Calendar Wrong?
Some teachers in the Hebrew Roots movement attempt to persuade people to abandon the Jewish reckoning of the biblical calendar and adopt an alternative calendar. They perceive their interpretation of the calendar and how to reckon the lunar year to be more biblically correct. But is it?
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12-min
I Am My Beloved's and My Beloved Is Mine
HaShem is righteous, a lover of righteous deeds, and there is no end to his mercy. That which he has said he will do, and he will surely have compassion just as he said. HaShem is near to all who call upon him in truth.
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8-min
Preparing for Tisha B'Av
Tisha B’Av is, depending upon one's perspective, a time of deep reflection prior to the time of deep reflection during Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. It is, as it were, a “dress rehearsal” so that we might spend this time looking at our goals and objectives for the coming year, and deciding upon courses of action.
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4-min
When Heaven Kissed Earth
Each year on Shavu’ot we have the opportunity to relive the experience of the Revelation at Sinai. Judaism encourages us not just to learn about the giving of the Torah, we should be there for it. When we do, we become part of the story.
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7-min
Yom HaAliyah: The Celebration of Ascension Day
Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy still celebrate the day as one of the great feasts of the Christian year. So what about Messianic Judaism? Should we be celebrating Ascension Day? I think the answer is a resounding “yes!” It represents an event in the life of the Master that is at least as important as his death and resurrection.
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5-min
Counting Up the Days
The Torah commands that Jews keep the festival of Shavu’ot (known to Christians as Pentecost), but does not give us a date for when we must do so. How are we to know? What if we don’t have a calendar to tell us when it occurs?
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6-min
Thoughts from the Upper Room
In this age of historical revisionism some people want to believe that this schism was simply a debate about a day versus a date; but that is simply not true. The early church was rife with anti-Semitism and it deliberately chose to sever the connection between the celebration of Passover and Yeshua’s resurrection.
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11-min
A Taste of Freedom
For most of us, participation in a Passover Seder begins with readying our homes and congregational buildings, preparation for what we’ll be wearing and/or whether or not we’ve purchased our dinner tickets prior to the event, then ends with the seder. What more is there that requires devotional preparation?
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11-min
The Red Heifer in the Epistle of Barnabas
In Temple times, the special reading of Numbers 19 reminded those in attendance at the synagogue that they needed to prepare for Passover. They needed to undergo the ritual purification with the ashes of the red heifer prior to Passover. Otherwise they would not be ritually fit to eat the Passover sacrifice.
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16-min
This Year in Jerusalem!
In 2016, First Fruits of Zion will be hosting two tours to Israel, and our annual Shavu’ot conference will be held at Beth Immanuel in Hudson, Wisconsin. Now is a good time to make a decision to join us. Get the dates on your calendar.
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3-min
Do I Have to Follow the Jewish Calendar?
When we were young and our parents asked us to mow the grass, we might have responded, “Do I have to?” But we never responded like that when they told us it was Tuesday. No one asks “Do I have to?” of a calendar. It just doesn’t make sense.
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11-min
