Kabbalat Shabbat means welcoming the Shabbat on Friday night. It makes Friday evening very special for Jewish people - especially Jewish families. The family meal together on Friday is almost a no-excuses obligation. Even for secular families who have long given up on following God’s laws - getting home for the shabbat is of utmost importance. It’s a hard-wired part of Jewish culture. This post looks at the traditions involved and the reasons why it is so important... and at the effect it has had on Jewish society.
Have we lost the meaning of Shabbat? God sanctified the seventh day and made it holy, and continues to insist that we should keep the Shabbat many times throughout Scripture. But why is it so special? And what should it mean to Christians? Have we missed something?
Shmuely Boteach is one of many Jewish people who are beginning to wonder why the most famous Jew of all has been monopolised by Christianity. He has written a book called “Kosher Jesus” about his desire that Jesus would be reclaimed as Jewish, and expresses regret that Jewish people allowed Jesus “to be ripped away from them without even a fight.”
A notice published in the Jerusalem Post read: “The citizens of Israel warmly welcome tourists who have come to get to know our country and its residents. But those who come to convince Jews to abandon their religion are most definitely not welcome... Missionaries: You are not welcome in this land and will not be permitted to act freely in your attempts to snatch souls!”
It continues: “This holy land has gathered in the remnants of the Jewish people who survived the Holocaust, pogroms and persecution in Europe and around the world. Missionaries take advantage of Israel’s hospitality to spiritually destroy what is left of the Jewish people. They come under false pretenses, claiming to be lovers of Israel. BUT THEY ARE NOT! They seek to lure Jews away from their religion.”
How should we as believers feel about this and respond?
Scholars agree that Yeshua was probaby not born on 25th December, year 0. In fact, there is no year 0! So when WAS he born - and does it even matter?
The only solid Biblical clue we have is to work backwards from the scheduled priestly rota of Zechariah (John the Baptist’s father) in the temple. We know that Gabriel was sent to announce the Good News to Mary precisely when Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist - therefore six months after Zechariah’s clan was signed up for temple duty. This requires some digging around in the books of Chronicles to check which clan served in which month...
The symbol of Hanukah is the nine-branched candlestick. We often think of it as a festival of light, which blurs with every other festival of light found in so many cultures and faiths. But the true story is one of rededication. Leviticus 27 has laws on how a person can dedicate their house, and in Israel housewarming parties are called “Hanukat Beit” parties - “dedication of the house” parties. The Hanukah story is of a housewarming party for the ultimate house.
The Hebrew for desert is מדבר. The Hebrew for speaking is מדבר. Spot the difference? There isn’t any when you see it written down - it’s from the same word root. The word for desert is pronounced “midbar” and speaking is pronounced “medaber” but perhaps it is no coincidence that the two overlap, for God often speaks in the desert.
Many people have heard about the Talmud, but aren’t too sure what is is, exactly. To have a better understanding of modern Judaism, it’s very helpful to have some grasp of this important collection of writings - where they came from, what sort of things they say, and the influence that they have had.
Good news! Israel has already received 34% of the rainfall it needs annually - and the rainy season has only just begun! Visitors to Israel will often notice the signs about the water shortage, and stressing the importance of water conservation. Like most things in Israel, rain and drought are also deeply spiritual subjects, and God has a lot to say about it all. And have you ever wondered why God chose that little piece of real estate rather than say... the South of France? A stunning part of China? Or lush Ireland? Why dusty little Israel?
The travels and troubles of the Jewish people are well known. But how much do you know about where they have been and what they have been through? The history of the people of Israel is fascinating with all manner of twists and turns that very few (non-Jewish) people know about. Some of them might be news to you...
The Dead Sea reflects the idea that we were meant to overflow with God’s love. We often associate water with life. Many cities are built by rivers, lakes, and other areas where water can be found to support the population. Every time, however, where there is a body of water with no outlet, like the Dead Sea, we find a lack of life in it and around it. How can we become people who have springs of living water bursting out of us?
There is an idea that all Jewish people believe in God and follow Him. Under this assumption, it is easy to believe that all they need is to hear the Messianic prophecies and they will come to faith in Yeshua. In Israel, however, this assumption is far from the truth.
Gilad Shalit finally walks free, as do 1027 Palestinian prisoners, and now Gaddafi has been violently killed. With so many of the Palestinian prisoners in question having committed heinous crimes of terrorism, and the way Gaddafi was so unceremoniously killed with such brutality, questions of morality and justice are thick in the air. The whole Middle East has a lot to come to terms with. This is an important time to pray for Israel and her neighbours.
Today begins the festival of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a week-long festival, where Jewish people construct shelters (called sukkot, plural) and then eat and even sleep in them for the week. The festival reminds them of their time wandering in the desert when the Israelites lived in temporary dwellings, and how God himself tabernacled in the midst of them. Also on this day, 1934 days after his capture, Gilad Shalit’s release has at last been secured by political negotiations. The young, Israeli soldier was kidnapped and held hostage over five years ago, and now finally he will be going home to his family. I imagine it might be the most joyous Sukkot that family has ever celebrated!
From the evening of Friday 7th October until darkness falls on Saturday 8th is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar: Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. Wonderfully, there are Jewish people who come to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) because of this day, as they go to synagogue and reflect on what it all means, and here are some of their stories.
At this time of year, some of the seven “species” of Israel are coming into season - specifically, the date, the fig, the pomegranate. There were seven species of food that God assured his people that they would find in the Promised Land. Listed in order that they are ready to harvest, they are: barley, wheat, grapes, honey, figs, pomegranates and olives. (Deuteronomy 8:8)
There are countless palm trees in every direction in Israel, and there is wonderful Biblical meaning behind the tree, which we can remember every time we see them, or taste its fruit. Understanding the symbolism behind the carefully chosen words in the Bible can open the meaning up for us in whole new ways.
I recently came across this cryptic verse in Isaiah 55:
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
Whatever could it mean? I wondered... I started to investigate the meaning of thorns and briars using the “Principle of First Mention”. This is a Bible study method that suggests the first time that something is mentioned in the Bible can shed light on the subsequent meanings of the word or concept. Here is the first mention of thorns:
It has been interesting and infuriating to see how the media has portayed the latest heartaches in Israel. As so many times before, there has been spinning, slanting, agenda-driven half-truths flying across the internet and news sources. But is it realistic to suggest that any media company could ever hope to give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Moses and Joshua had to take off their shoes because the ground was holy, an exchange of footwear sealed the deal in Ruth, and the Psalms talk of tossing sandals at Edom... what is it with the Middle East and shoes? As I struggled to board the train to Tel Aviv airport with my heavy suitcases, I watched with horror as one of my shoes was wrenched off and tumbled between the train and the platform. Stunned, I gazed down at it, lying there helplessly on the track, and I suddenly grasped something about the importance and significance of having something to wear on our feet. I simply could not go on without it.
Adonai Tzavaot, the “Lord of Hosts” is one of the names of God, used 235 times in the Bible. The first time it appears is in the story of Hannah and her husband Elkanah, in Hannah’s struggle with barrenness. Hannah is the first person to call God by this name. The literal meaning in Hebrew is “Lord of armies”: Tza-va (צבא) is the word for army - and what today refers to the Israeli Defence Force. Tza-va-ot (צבאות) is the plural. Multiple armies. But is it necessarily a military word? What does it mean, when we call God “Lord of Armies”?
"One day a Christian lady asked her pastor: "Do you not think the time is now ripe to start the special task of spreading the gospel among the Jews?" The pastor replied: "No. According to the Bible it is now the time of the heathen. Israel has been rejected."
The answer brought the lady to the verge of tears, but she held her peace, and bided her time. A few months later she approached the pastor once again," explains Richard Wurmbrand, but this time, like the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12, she brought a story...
As believers, our desire and aim - indeed our destiny - is to become more and more like Yeshua... to be "conformed to his likeness", as Paul puts it in Romans 8:29. As his children, we want to grow and to change to become more and more on his "wavelength", so to speak.
We want to see things the way God sees them, through eyes of faith. We want to feel how God feels and have his perspective on our lives, the lives of others, and the matters around us. We want to think the way he thinks and be in alignment with him - to be living more fully in his truth.
If we ever see something differently to God, guess who's wrong! God, though very far above our thoughts and understanding, will always be our moral yardstick that we are measured against.
However, this can be difficult. Sometimes it goes against the grain to agree with God's choices and to feel the same way as he does. Why does he seem to have this special tenderness towards Israel more than other nations, and does he really expect us to join him in it?
Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” (1 Kings 18:41-44)
Elijah knew that his promise of heavy rain was about to be fulfilled.
What do a harvest festival, 49 days, and a passionate love story have in common?
Shavuot means 'weeks'. God said, "Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you." (Deuteronomy 16:9-10)
Offerings of barley and wheat are made, and the 'seven species': pomegranate, grapes, olives, wheat, barley, figs and date honey are celebrated. It's a thankgiving time for the goodness of the land. It's a time of 'bikurim' or firstfruits. It's the time that the Torah was given to Israel and they agreed to follow it, making them a covenant community, and it's also the time that the church or body of Messiah was born at Pentecost. New birth... First fruits. This is the harvest festival bit.
The word Pentecost comes from the 50 days that are counted from Passover to Shavuot - seven weeks is 49 days, and 50 days if you count the feast itself. The parallel events of the Torah being given at Sinai and the Holy Spirit being given in Jerusalem are no coincidence. Both signified a birth of the two religions, if we may call them that, and both were from the hand of God. One happened seven weeks after the Passover and liberation from Egypt, and the other seven weeks after the crucifixion and resurrection of our Passover lamb, Yeshua the Messiah. Both catapulted faith communities into action. This is the 49 days bit.
And traditionally, the book of Ruth is read during the feast, because the story is set at the time of the barley harvest, and Shavuot occurs between the barley and wheat harvests. This is the love story bit. Well - part of the love story anyway...
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise." Isaiah 60:18
As we hear of violence and bloodshed around the borders of Israel, it's often hard to know what to think or how to pray. It goes without saying that God loves each person deeply, and suffers with those that suffer. We have God's word that one day there will be peace - that God's people will dwell securely in the land forever, and that all will be well. But that day might seem like a dream to us right now. How should we respond today in faith-filled prayer?
Monday and Tuesday are two very significant days for Israel - a day of mourning followed by a day of rejoicing. Monday is the annual Memorial Day for all those who have died in Israel's struggle to exist, either in the armed forces or as a result of terrorism. It is a day of solemn recognition that there have been many casualties in the birth and continued existence of the State of Israel.
As often seems to be the way in the Jewish way of life, the bitter and the sweet are juxtaposed - almost without time to catch a breath. Tuesday is Israel's Independence Day, when the nation breaks out into a huge party to celebrate its reestablishment after a 2000 exile.
"Our generation has come to know man as he really is: the being that has invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz, and also the being who entered those gas chambers upright, the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips." Viktor E. Frankl, "Psychotherapy and Existentialism."
In an interview with Dr Robert Schuler, Viktor Frankl said that he had prayed that God would give him some direction about what to do - to flee to safety in America, or stay with his family? Though he earnestly prayed, he couldn't discern the answer, and felt that God was ignoring him.
When he came home that day he found his father in tears. "The Nazis have burned down the synagogue," said the father and showed him a fragment of marble he had salvaged. That piece of marble had just one letter of the Ten Commandments engraved on it, the beginning of the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother." Frankl called the American embassy and canceled his visa.
As believers in Yeshua celebrate his earth-shattering purchase of redemption through his death and resurrection, Jewish people all over the world celebrate the redemption of Israel with the feast Passover. As with much of the New Covenant we now enjoy, Jesus' atoning sacrifice for us was gloriously forshadowed in the way that the angel of death "passed over" the Israelites.
God's second favourite miracle?
Second to saving the world at calvary, I think that the Passover miracle is God's favourite. He talks about it all the time in scripture, and made it the beginning of the whole Jewish year (see Exodus 12:2 - Biblically, it's not Rosh HaShanah in the autumn, as tradition now has it). He even defines himself by the event: At the beginning of the ten commandments he introduces himself like this: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery". He used to call himself 'the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob', or 'I AM' until this point... But "the one who brought you out of Egypt" is what he calls himself repeatedly from the Exodus onwards, literally hundreds of times. I think he's quite excited about the whole Passover saga, and I have to agree, it's full of rich beauty, meaning and power...
Kabbalat Shabbat means welcoming the Shabbat on Friday night. It makes Friday evening very special for Jewish people - especially Jewish families. The family meal together on Friday is almost a no-excuses obligation. Even for secular families who have long given up on following God’s laws - getting home for the shabbat is of utmost importance. It’s a hard-wired part of Jewish culture. This post looks at the traditions involved and the reasons why it is so important... and at the effect it has had on Jewish society.
Shmuely Boteach is one of many Jewish people who are beginning to wonder why the most famous Jew of all has been monopolised by Christianity. He has written a book called “Kosher Jesus” about his desire that Jesus would be reclaimed as Jewish, and expresses regret that Jewish people allowed Jesus “to be ripped away from them without even a fight.” 
A notice published in the Jerusalem Post read: “The citizens of Israel warmly welcome tourists who have come to get to know our country and its residents. But those who come to convince Jews to abandon their religion are most definitely not welcome... Missionaries: You are not welcome in this land and will not be permitted to act freely in your attempts to snatch souls!”
Scholars agree that Yeshua was probaby not born on 25th December, year 0. In fact, there is no year 0! So when WAS he born - and does it even matter?
The symbol of Hanukah is the nine-branched candlestick. We often think of it as a festival of light, which blurs with every other festival of light found in so many cultures and faiths. But the true story is one of rededication. Leviticus 27 has laws on how a person can dedicate their house, and in Israel housewarming parties are called “Hanukat Beit” parties - “dedication of the house” parties. The Hanukah story is of a housewarming party for the ultimate house.
The Hebrew for desert is מדבר. The Hebrew for speaking is מדבר. Spot the difference? There isn’t any when you see it written down - it’s from the same word root. The word for desert is pronounced “midbar” and speaking is pronounced “medaber” but perhaps it is no coincidence that the two overlap, for God often speaks in the desert.
Good news! Israel has already received 34% of the rainfall it needs annually - and the rainy season has only just begun! Visitors to Israel will often notice the signs about the water shortage, and stressing the importance of water conservation. Like most things in Israel, rain and drought are also deeply spiritual subjects, and God has a lot to say about it all. And have you ever wondered why God chose that little piece of real estate rather than say... the South of France? A stunning part of China? Or lush Ireland? Why dusty little Israel?
The travels and troubles of the Jewish people are well known. But how much do you know about where they have been and what they have been through? The history of the people of Israel is fascinating with all manner of twists and turns that very few (non-Jewish) people know about. Some of them might be news to you...
The Dead Sea reflects the idea that we were meant to overflow with God’s love. We often associate water with life. Many cities are built by rivers, lakes, and other areas where water can be found to support the population. Every time, however, where there is a body of water with no outlet, like the Dead Sea, we find a lack of life in it and around it. 
There is an idea that all Jewish people believe in God and follow Him. Under this assumption, it is easy to believe that all they need is to hear the Messianic prophecies and they will come to faith in Yeshua. In Israel, however, this assumption is far from the truth.
Gilad Shalit finally walks free, as do 1027 Palestinian prisoners, and now Gaddafi has been violently killed. With so many of the Palestinian prisoners in question having committed heinous crimes of terrorism, and the way Gaddafi was so unceremoniously killed with such brutality, questions of morality and justice are thick in the air. The whole Middle East has a lot to come to terms with. This is an important time to pray for Israel and her neighbours.
Today begins the festival of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a week-long festival, where Jewish people construct shelters (called sukkot, plural) and then eat and even sleep in them for the week. The festival reminds them of their time wandering in the desert when the Israelites lived in temporary dwellings, and how God himself tabernacled in the midst of them.
From the evening of Friday 7th October until darkness falls on Saturday 8th is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar: Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. Wonderfully, there are Jewish people who come to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) because of this day, as they go to synagogue and reflect on what it all means, and here are some of their stories.
At this time of year, some of the seven “species” of Israel are coming into season - specifically, the date, the fig, the pomegranate. There were seven species of food that God assured his people that they would find in the Promised Land. Listed in order that they are ready to harvest, they are: barley, wheat, grapes, honey, figs, pomegranates and olives. (Deuteronomy 8:8)
I recently came across this cryptic verse in Isaiah 55:
It has been interesting and infuriating to see how the media has portayed the latest heartaches in Israel. As so many times before, there has been spinning, slanting, agenda-driven half-truths flying across the internet and news sources. But is it realistic to suggest that
Moses and Joshua had to take off their shoes because the ground was holy, an exchange of footwear sealed the deal in Ruth, and the Psalms talk of tossing sandals at Edom... what is it with the Middle East and shoes? As I struggled to board the train to Tel Aviv airport with my heavy suitcases, I watched with horror as one of my shoes was wrenched off and tumbled between the train and the platform. Stunned, I gazed down at it, lying there helplessly on the track, and I suddenly grasped something about the importance and significance of having something to wear on our feet. I simply could not go on without it.
Adonai Tzavaot, the “Lord of Hosts” is one of the names of God, used 235 times in the Bible. The first time it appears is in the story of Hannah and her husband Elkanah, in Hannah’s struggle with barrenness. Hannah is the first person to call God by this name. The literal meaning in Hebrew is “Lord of armies”: Tza-va (צבא) is the word for army - and what today refers to the Israeli Defence Force. Tza-va-ot (צבאות) is the plural. Multiple armies. But is it necessarily a military word? What does it mean, when we call God “Lord of Armies”?
"One day a Christian lady asked her pastor: "Do you not think the time is now ripe to start the special task of spreading the gospel among the Jews?" The pastor replied: "No. According to the Bible it is now the time of the heathen. Israel has been rejected."
As believers, our desire and aim - indeed our destiny - is to become more and more like Yeshua... to be "conformed to his likeness", as Paul puts it in Romans 8:29. As his children, we want to grow and to change to become more and more on his "wavelength", so to speak.
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise." Isaiah 60:18
Monday and Tuesday are two very significant days for Israel - a day of mourning followed by a day of rejoicing. Monday is the annual Memorial Day for all those who have died in Israel's struggle to exist, either in the armed forces or as a result of terrorism. It is a day of solemn recognition that there have been many casualties in the birth and continued existence of the State of Israel.
"Our generation has come to know man as he really is: the being that has invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz, and also the being who entered those gas chambers upright, the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips." Viktor E. Frankl, "Psychotherapy and Existentialism."
As believers in Yeshua celebrate his earth-shattering purchase of redemption through his death and resurrection, Jewish people all over the world celebrate the redemption of Israel with the feast Passover. As with much of the New Covenant we now enjoy, Jesus' atoning sacrifice for us was gloriously forshadowed in the way that the angel of death "passed over" the Israelites.
