Culture & Jewish Life
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Messianic Jews reap the harvest during Shavuot
Hundreds of Messianic Jews from around the country congregated at Moshav Yad Hashemona on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday for an annual Shavuot picnic, worshipping and celebrating together the reaping of GodÂ’s harvest.
Shavuot is one of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals where Jews were required to come up to Jerusalem. It is celebrated traditionally with cheesecakes, blintzes and the reading of Megillat Ruth (the book of Ruth).
On the 6th of Sivan, according to the Jewish calendar, Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, is commemorated by Jews as the day the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, where the Jewish people as a nation committed to serving God.
Shavuot, or Pentecost as it is more broadly known, also marks the day of the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers in Yeshua following his ascension to heaven, creating a significant connection for Messianic Jews in Israel.
“Shavuot is a wonderful link in the ancient giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the New Covenant community, which was primarily Jewish,” Messianic Leader Evan Thomas told Israel Today.
This Festival of First Fruits is mentioned throughout the Torah in Exodus 32:22, Deuteronomy 16:10 and Exodus 23:16 as a day of ingathering all that was sown and reaped. The feast of grain begins with the harvesting of barley and ends with the harvesting of wheat. This is shown in the book of Ruth, while Boaz reaps the produce from his fields; Ruth gleans from his fields as he reaped a bountiful harvest.
Messianic Jews also find significance in celebrating the Feast of Weeks with family and friends on the 50th day after Passover.
“I believe it’s important for Messianic Jews to celebrate Shavuot and all the biblical feasts in Israel as we are an inseparable part of the Jewish community,” said Thomas. “It’s important for us to express our identity both as Jews and in the Messianic faith to be a testimony to Israel and the body of Messiah in general.”
In the land flowing with milk and honey, Israelis adhere to eating dairy, including homemade cheesecakes and cheese-filled blintzes because prior to receiving the Torah, Laws regarding foods and food preparation were not yet given.
So, celebrate with Israelis by baking a cheesecake, reading the book of Ruth and thanking God for the harvest He allows His people to continually reap. -
thanks vince for posting this. hope the EH outing goes well....
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What is the source of the law that a child is Jewish only if its mother is Jewish?
The statement that Jewish identity is determined by the mother is found in the Mishnah (Kiddushin 3:12), which says that the child of a gentile woman is like her. The Talmud derives this from the passage in Deut. 7:3-4: "Do not intermarry with [him], do not give your daughter to his son or take his daughter for your son, for he will turn your son from Me": A child born to your daughter (fathered by a non-Jew) is called "your son", but a child born to your son (by a non-Jewish mother) is not called "your son", but "her son". The Talmud is assuming here that the "he" in Deut.7:4 is your gentile son-in-law, and that "your son" whom "he" will turn away from G-d is your grandson, born to him and to your daughter. The Torah calls that grandson "your son" because he is regarded as Jewish since he had a Jewish mother. In the other case, where a Jewish man marries a gentile woman, the Torah doesn't speak about the woman's influence on her children (i.e., it doesn't say "for she will turn your son from me" ), because her children are non-Jewish to begin with since their mother is non-Jewish. Apparently we are more concerned about the influence of a non-Jewish spouse on the children than about the influence of a non-Jewish spouse's parents on their children-in-law. The Talmud (Kiddushin 68b) asks how we know that these laws apply to any non-Jews, since the cited verse refers to the Canaanites. The answer given there is that "he will turn your son [away from Me]" implies that all those who might turn [sons] away are included in the prohibition. -
Tisha B'Av
Five misfortunes befell our fathers ... on the ninth of Av. ...On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land, the Temple was destroyed the first and second time, Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up. -Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6
...Should I weep in the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have done these so many years? -Zechariah 7:3
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month ...came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... -II Kings 25:8-9
In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month... came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... - Jeremiah 52:12-13
How then are these dates to be reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and it continued to burn the whole of that day. ... How will the Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of greater moment. -Talmud Ta'anit 29a
Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av.
Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av." It usually occurs during August.
Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).
Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.1
Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three week period of increasing mourning, beginning with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which commemorates the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem, before the First Temple was destroyed. During this three week period, weddings and other parties are not permitted, and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or drinking wine (except on the Shabbat) and from wearing new clothing.
The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word [rather than the Shabbat sense] is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.
In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept) is draped in black.
Jewish Year 5767 : sunset July 23, 2007 - nightfall July 24, 2007