Back To Our Jewish Roots

As we sit here in a neighborhood on the brink of the Negev Desert our common room is decked out with Christmas decorations. We have Dusty the Snowman (Frosty’s desert cousin), snowflakes and glitter pine cones hanging from the ceiling, along with the classic mistletoe, a green and red paper chain, a hand cut and tied wreath and Mr. and Mrs. Clause decorating the pictures on the wall! And of course Erin and I went on a midnight scavenger hunt for a Christmas tree. Since we are surrounded by sand we had to settle for a bush that we tied together and decorated for the perfect Israel tree. Eat your heart out Charlie Brown! We have been singing as many Christmas carols as we can remember and really trying to get in the whole Christmas mode. It is hard here, not only because the weather is warm and beautiful but also because the majority of the people here are Jewish and therefore DO NOT decorate for Christmas.

We are blessed to take part in our contacts’ traditions. This includes a shabbot dinner on Friday nights and having a day of rest and no work on Saturdays. Also, a few days ago, Hanukkah began and just about everywhere you go you see menorahs lit. We’ve learned a lot about the Jewish traditions and wanted to share with you what we have found out. In John 10: 22-30 it talks about the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem and this is the start of Hanukkah in 163 BCE. The lighting of the candles is a remembrance of the Macabean people and the oil candles they lit to keep light in the Temple at all times. They had only a supply for eight days and figured they could leave one lit during the night and light the others one day at a time. Also the Macabean’s have a holiday called Succoth, which last eight days. That is why today they light a candle every night for eight days. So, if we as believers of Christ are trying to become more and more like Him everyday, why then are we not Jewish? Wasn’t Jesus a Jew? What type of Jew was he? When the bible talks about the woman reaching out and touching Jesus’ cloak and being healed, in the original text it says kraspedon which means the tassel. The tassel is part of the prayer shawl an article of clothing that Orthadox Jews wear. Also the bible calls Jesus a Rabbi, so does this mean Jesus was an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi? Rabbi’s did have followers that they called disciples that spent their lives learning and following their Rabbi. How does that make you feel? Have you ever read the Torah? Ya me neither, unless you mean the first five books of the bible. Before this month if I heard you read the Torah, I would probably try to witness to you but in fact you would be the one that should witness to me. Jewish traditions mean so much more too. Why do we as Christians celebrate the day of fertility? Did you know that? Don’t you celebrate Easter which came from the word Ishtar who was the goddess of fertility? Why is Christmas on the 25^th of December? Are we Roman pagans? Here is something else that will blow your mind. Jesus was not born in a barn nor was he a wood carpenter! In the days of Joseph and Mary, people’s homes were quite small as you probably imagined, but also on both sides of their home they had a type of storage. One side would be used for food and such and the other their live stock. In the winter they would even bring in their animals to protect against the cold and also to help heat the house. Since Jesus was born in the winter time, that we are sure of, he may have possibly been born in a house next to the animals. Also, wood was so expensive to buy not many people built with it. Instead they used brick and mud. With that said, Jesus was likely a stone mason.