Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Celebrating Jerusalem's 50th Year Jubilee: AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT IN MY LIFE By Shira Sorko-Ram
"You are destined to live in Israel." This prophecy was given to me numerous times as a young girl in my early 20's. Read the article...
THE HOLY LAND: OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS AND FAKE NEWS
So history repeats itself. For the 50 years I have lived in Israel, every single new U.S. president has made one of his top-priorities the goal of solving the Palestinian- Israeli conflict and bringing peace to the Middle East. And who doesn't want peace? The Israeli people are desperate for peace. And I'm sure many Arab citizens also yearn for peace. Read the article...
JEWISH NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY IN HEBREW IS FINISHED! One of the largest projects Maoz has ever undertaken was the translation into Hebrew of the JewishNew Testament Commentary. It took four years! And now it is completed! We invited 120 of Israel's Messianic pioneers and leaders from all over Israel to celebrate David Stern's life... Continue reading...
PASSOVER SEDER AT TIFERET YESHUA
Over 70 people came to celebrate the last Passover Seder at Tiferet Yeshua. "The event was amazing; it felt like we were all of one heart, and nobody rushed home!" says David Trubek, elder of Tiferet Yeshua. Eyal, and Israeli from Tel Aviv, who attended for the first time, was surprised...Continue Reading...
TWENTY-TWO ISRAELIS HEADING FOR MJAA CONFERENCE Every year the largest gathering of Messianic Jews in the world takes place at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America hosts a week- long conference of teaching, fellowship, worship, concerts, youth events, and much much more. Read the article...
I was a little surprised that Christianity Today published an article written by two rabbis, Yehiel Poupko and David Sandmel, who reject Yeshua as the Messiah, claiming that Yeshua did not eat a Passover Seder with his disciples. Furthermore, they exhorted Christians to stop hosting Passover Seders. I want to respond their arguments, because I strongly disagree with both points. But first, let me share where I agree with them—and maybe this is the reason that Christianity Today allowed them the platform.
Where I Agree
Something has changed.
About 25 years ago, when I began to travel as a Messianic Jewish teacher/evangelist, I never felt any animosity against me because I continued to live as a Jew or because I didn't connect to Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter (but also don't condemn those who do). However, over the past several years, I see more and more confusion over Messianic Judaism. Most of the confusion stems from non-Jewish believers feeling compelled to live as Jews or as ritually Torah observant—and then seek to "confront and convert" friends and family members, often with a less-than-humble attitude, to the point of alienation. I have received so many emails from wounded family members over the years.
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements (click here to learn more about these movements) have stained the reputation of Messianic Judaism because the average Christian assumes we are one in the same. The main difference between Messianic Judaism and these other groups is this—Messianic Judaism encourages:
Jewish people to embrace Yeshua.
Jewish believers to continue to live as Jews, as the disciples did.
Non-Jewish believers to feel free to worship with us as equals in the kingdom, without having to embrace Jewishness (Acts 15).
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements seek to compel non-Jews to forsake all extra-biblical traditions and embrace Torah, meaning, to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, celebrate Jewish feasts and holy days, keep kosher (Mosaic dietary laws), celebrate New Moons and to understand the Scriptures from a Hebraic mindset. I do agree with the last point, that the church would do well to have a more Jewish understanding of Yeshua (that is why I wrote Identity Theft), but I don't believe that non-Jewish believers are to be compelled to live as Jews.
The influence of this movement is working its way into our churches and seminaries. It's dangerous in its implication that keeping the Old Covenant law is walking a "higher path," and is the only way to please God and receive His blessings. Nowhere in the Bible do we find Gentile believers being instructed to follow Levitical laws or Jewish customs.
While I agree with the quote, it does seem Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to celebrate Passover (1 Cor. 5:7-8), and when Yeshua returns, all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16). It is not my place to tell people what they can and cannot celebrate. Non-Jews are free to embrace Jewish holidays, but should not be coerced. At the same time, I do understand the rabbis' concern.
Misusing the Symbols of Another
The rabbis wrote, "adopting another's ritual shows a lack of respect. Even when pursued with the best of intentions, taking another faith's sacred ritual and transforming it into an expression of one's own tradition displays a misunderstanding of the complex nature of faith traditions." I recorded a video a few years back called, "Shofar Abuse" to express concern that many were not treating the sacred symbols of Judaism with proper respect.
For example, when I walk into a church and see a woman wearing a Jewish prayer shawl, I tremble inside, understanding that for an Orthodox Jew, this is extremely disrespectful. I am sure that the woman loves Israel and the Jewish people and has no idea she is being a stumbling block. However, a prayer shawl or tallit is given to a Jewish boy at his Bar Mitzvah. It should not touch the ground and must be treated with respect. In orthodox synagogues, a woman would not wear one.
Can you see why the rabbis who wrote this article might have a point?
Where I Disagree
Was the most famous Passover meal a Seder?
It is ironic that while rabbis admit there is no Passover meal more famous than the Last Supper, they claim it was not a Seder—that the Seder, as we know it today, only came about after the destruction of the Temple. It is true that Judaism went through a massive post-Temple reform in the years following 70 C.E.
Yochanan Ben Zakai led the movement to recreate Judaism in a way that the Temple would not be essential, as it was destroyed. Over time, the oral traditions were codified and put into writing. The rabbis correctly state, "The Seder ritual, as it is practiced today, did not exist at the time of Jesus. It was only fully developed by the rabbis in the years following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E."
However, their conclusion that this means Yeshua did not participate in a Seder is absurd. This was just 40 years before 70 C.E.—where do they think these customs came from? They were not all simply invented in the years following the Temple's demise. We see in Yeshua's Seder many of the same things we see in a modern Seder. Apologist Michael Rydelnik agrees:
Some examples include ritual hand washing, the breaking of bread or matzah, the use of red wine, reciting the Hallel psalms (they sang a hymn after the meal), the anticipation of the messianic kingdom (Jesus said I won't drink of this cup until I drink it with you in the kingdom), eating ground-up bitter herbs (called the sop that Jesus passed to Judas). The great scholar Joachim Jeremias, in the Eucharistic Words of Christ, notes 14 of these clear associations with the Passover Seder. So, even if the Last Supper was not a Seder as practiced today, it certainly was an incipient Seder, as practiced before 70 CE.
How can the traditional Haggadah (the book that guides us through the Passover Seder) claim that traditions go back to Rabbi Hillel, who died almost a decade before Jesus was born, if indeed everything started in 70 C.E.?
Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Paschal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law "You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror."
The New Testament also records that they were reclining as they ate: "While they were reclining at the table eating... (Mark 14:18, NIV). The Haggadah asks, "On all other nights, everyone sits up straight at the table, why on this night do we recline and eat at leisure?" Clearly this was a Seder. He breaks the matzah before the meal—just as we are to do—and then Yeshua takes wine after dinner, just as the Haggadah prescribes a third cup after the meal—the cup of redemption, and He would become our ge'ula, redemption.
A Better Question
My question to the rabbis is this: How did such an overtly Messianic/Christian theme end up in the traditional Jewish Seder? I am referring to the Afikoman:
Prior to the meal, this matzah was broken, wrapped in linen, and hidden away. Following the dinner, the matzah reappears. For the Messianic Jewish community, the afikomen symbolically represents the Messiah, as Jesus' body was broken, wrapped in linen, buried and raised on the third day.
Not to mention that matzah is unleavened bread. Leaven represents sin. Yeshua was the "lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:19, MEV)—without sin.
Can you Separate Passover from Yeshua?
I know the rabbis are walking a tightrope in their article. On the one hand, they don't want to offend their Christian audience by saying, "Jesus was a fraud," (However, the truth remains that if traditional Judaism is correct—that the Messiah has not come—then Christianity is idolatry and Jesus was a counterfeit Messiah. Only one can be correct.) but neither do they want you to think it is possible for a believer to be inspired in their faith in Yeshua through a Jewish Passover Seder. They speak highly of Christianity, as well as traditional Judaism, while seeking to claim something akin to: "You have the Eucharist and we have the Passover meal—don't confuse them."
They correctly state, "For most of Christian history, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, replaced the Jewish Passover Seder." But that doesn't mean it was correct. They see Christianity as many who embrace replacement/reform theology do. They assume that all believers embrace the idea that the church has replaced Israel. We don't. And most of these replacements were done by anti-Semitic leaders, like Emperor Constantine, who sought to rid Christianity of any Jewish influence or St. John Chrysostom, who was so concerned about Judaism's influence on believers that he taught, "It is every Christian's duty to hate the Jews."
The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar. Jewish Christians, the first to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, timed the observance in relation to Passover. Direct evidence for a more fully-formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century.
That was more than 100 years after the resurrection. Early Christians were familiar with the Passover story, as Paul refers to Yeshua as the Passover Lamb when writing the non-Jews in Corinth. John calls him the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and Peter uses the lamb symbolically to explain how Yeshua purchased us with His blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). When explaining baptism as going from death to life, Paul uses the imagery of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea, from the old life of slavery to the new life of freedom.
You simply cannot separate Christian or Messianic theology from the Passover story. Yes, Yeshua fulfills the Passover, but he doesn't cancel the traditional Passover. He would come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate, and it was no mistake He was crucified on Passover.
Identifying as Messianic Jews?
And what about Jewish believers? Can we still celebrate Passover? Is it no longer our history if we believe Yeshua to be the Messiah? Many Chabad Jews believe that their deceased Rebbe is the Messiah (I saw a sign today that said of him, "Long live King Messiah"), but no one is telling them they can't celebrate Passover. And, of course, I love their description of Messianic Jews:
In evangelical settings, the promotion of Christian Seders by those who identify as Messianic Jews and other such affiliations has also contributed to its growth.
I don't identify as a Messianic Jew, in the way that a transgender may be male but identify as female. By using this terminology, they are gently saying there is no such thing as a Messianic Jew—only one who identifies as such.
Conclusion
If I put myself in the place of the rabbis, I do understand their concern. They feel that a much larger worldwide movement is kidnapping their religious ceremonies and rituals, and adding Jesus. However, you cannot deny:
That without Judaism there is no Christianity.
Yeshua's original followers were Passover-celebrating Jews.
He established Passover as clearly pointing to His death and resurrection by taking the unleavened bread and saying, "This is my body."
Therefore, yes, Christians can and should celebrate Passover (as they did in the early church). At the same time, they should be very sensitive to the Jewish people so as not to dishonor the Passover. The Church is called to provoke Israel to jealousy, not merely provoke her.
Ron Cantoris the director of Messiah's Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.
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I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people... And I will bring you into the Land.
Today's verses serve as the basis of the tradition to drink four cups of wine at the Passover Seder. Each cup represents one of the four expressions of redemption with which God describes the Exodus from Egypt: Take out, rescue, redeem, take to. A closer reading, however, uncovers that there is a fifth expression, "I shall bring you," found in verse 8. Why then do we not have five cups of wine to reflect all five expressions of redemption? The Sages explain that while the first four expressions of redemption from Egypt have in fact been realized, the fifth expression “I shall bring you TO the Land” has not yet been completely fulfilled. Only when all the Jews return to Israel and the Messiah comes to Jerusalem will we rejoice with a fifth cup.
The holiday of Passover commemorates the official birth of the Jewish nation, and demonstrates how we can move into a state of physical and spiritual freedom.
I just happened on your site while looking up the pronunciation of an Hebrew name. Thanks for the daily emails and beautiful photos and verses. I love Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Blessings to you! ~Rebecca Davis
I do love seeing your daily glimpses into Israel. It was also exciting to hear your radio discussion of whether God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was too harsh. Thanks so much for all you do. Blessings, Donna, South Carolina
With warm wishes for a happy and meaningful Passover, Rabbi Tuly Weisz RabbiTuly@Israel365.com
Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up My banner to the people, and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Isaiah describes the great contributions that non Jews will play in the resettlement of the Land of Israel. This week marked the 70th anniversary of the passing of one of Isaiah’s heros, a great Christian warrior for Zion, Orde Wingate. An officer in the British army in the 1930’s, Wingate trained many of the future leaders of Israel’s military. Wingate drew on his deep love and profound knowledge of the Bible, employing strategies he had distilled from studying the campaigns of Joshua, Gideon and King David. In Wingate's righteous memory, learn more about the significance of Israel throughout Scripture. The Israel Bible contains the full Hebrew and English text with fascinating Israel commentary.
At the Passover seder, we keep the matzah covered before it is eaten. This beautiful Matzah Cover features olive branches and pomegranates, with the Hebrew word for Passover ("Pesach"). A wonderful addition to your holiday table!
Little Rock, Arkansas hosted two days of celebration for Israel as former Israeli Ambassador, Yoram Ettinger, visited the state for “A Night to Honor Israel” together with Christian friends of Israel.
I so love seeing the pictures that you post. Makes me terribly homesick! The Masada especially. We climbed the Snake Path at 3 a.m. to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea. Unreal. Sunrises and sunsets in Israel defy description. B'shalom, Ilona
I live in Juiz de Fora City, Brazil, Minas Gerais State. I love Israel, the country and her history. I am Christian. Every day I read Israel365 - very good. Thank you very much. T.F.