Hard to believe it was more than 50 years ago when New York based Levy's
Bread came up with one of the greatest marketing campaigns in advertising history.
Realizing that their product catered mostly to Jewish people, the company placed ads showing non-Jewish people enjoying the "Jewish" bread. The slogan, "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's" was born.
Problem solved. The days of Gentiles thinking that something Jewish didn't apply to them, were finally over, right?
Messianic Jewish Holidays and Celebrations
The Jewish Calendar
October 04, 2021
Why do Jewish holidays change dates every year? Actually, they don’t. They just follow a different calendar. Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, which is based on the solar year. The Jewish calendar is called lunisolar, meaning it is a combination of the lunar and solar cycles. The lunar cycle is the time it takes the moon to orbit the Earth, which happens monthly. The solar calendar is based on the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun, which is one year. As a lunisolar cal...
Read MoreSimchat Torah – The Joy of My Heart
September 27, 2021
It is good and just. It is trustworthy and faithful. It is firm. Boundless. Eternal. It is true and right, thoroughly tested. It is wonderful and delightful. It is sweeter than honey. It is more precious than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. So says the writer of Psalm 119. What does he speak of? The Word of God. Simchat Torah means “Joy of the Torah.” It is a holiday set aside to celebrate the gift of God’s Word. Jewish people stay up through the night reading the...
Read MoreSukkot: The Choice to Rejoice
September 20, 2021
We usually think of joy and happiness as emotions that come to us as a result of pleasant circumstances or good news. But God’s instructions for the Feast of Sukkot reveal that we are more than passive recipients of joy. The fact that He commands Israel to rejoice shows us that joy can be our choice (Leviticus 23:40). Sukkot is a seven-day festival where God commands the Jewish people to do no work on the first day and come together for a sacred assembly. Synagogue services today include wav...
Read MoreYom Kippur – A Profound Time to Explore the Jewish Roots of Christianity
September 16, 2021
Are you missing out? If you read only the New Testament, chances are you are missing the richness of the New Testament visible by understanding its Jewish roots, the very foundation upon which it was laid. God sent His promised Messiah, Jesus, to Earth to live among us within the context of Jewish faith and history found in the Old Testament. Jesus was Jewish. He lived a Jewish life and taught with authority from the Old Testament as the One fulfilling its prophecies. He did not come to star...
Read MoreYom Kippur is upon us
September 08, 2021
This is an especially meaningful time in the Jewish year. We are in the middle of commemorating the biblical Fall Feasts. It started with Yom Teruah — also known as Rosh Hashanah — the start of the Jewish new year, which we just celebrated. Now, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, is upon us. It’s the annual Day of Atonement when God covered and removed the sin of Israel. It’s the perfect reminder that Jesus our Messiah became our complete atonement through His death and resurrect...
Read MoreThe Fall Feasts: Going with God’s Agenda
September 01, 2021
How often do we meet with God in prayer and let Him set the agenda for our time with Him? We quickly come to the Lord when we have a need or experience trouble. We pour out our hearts to Him, bringing our burdens and praying for others. These are all right and valid reasons to draw near to God, and Scripture directs us to do so. (See Hebrews 4:16, James 5:13, Psalm 31:9, Psalm 62:8, Matthew 11:28, 1 Peter 5:7, James 5:16.) But what about when God wants to direct the conversation? It’s exc...
Read MoreThe Fall Feasts are for you too
August 23, 2021
Rosh Hashanah, the first of the Jewish Fall Feasts, begins September 6 at sunset. This feast is widely celebrated among the Jewish people as the Jewish New Year. It is also called the Feast of Trumpets, where the blowing of the shofar signifies a wake-up call for repentance and restoring our relationship with God. After Rosh Hashanah, there are other important Jewish Feasts on the calendar: Yom Kippur: The holiest day on the Jewish calendar — a day of somber reflection in which we seek ato...
Read MoreElul: Preparing Your Heart for the Fall Feasts
August 03, 2021
What is Elul? Elul is a month on the Jewish calendar preceding the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These holidays are about repentance and right standing with the Holy God of Israel, and one doesn’t enter such a season lightly. Engaging well with the Lord on these matters requires preparation. That’s how Jewish people and Messianic Jews spend the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul sits on the calendar between the time of year when Israel committed two of her great sins against the Lor...
Read More9 Things to Know About Tisha B’Av
June 21, 2021
What’s the saddest day on the Jewish calendar? It’s Tisha B’Av, and this year, it begins at sunset on Saturday, July 17 and ends at sundown on July 18. Tisha B’Av is an important Jewish holiday. Here are nine things to know about Tisha B’Av. 1.Tisha B’Av means the ninth of Av. Av is the name of a summer month on the Hebrew calendar, and the ninth day falls either in July or August. 2.Tisha B’Av is the most sorrowful day of the Jewish year because it commemorates a surprising number of trag...
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