1. Avoid Technology
2. Connect with Loved Ones
3. Nurture Your Health
4. Get Outside
5. Avoid Commerce
6. Light Candles
7. Drink Wine
8. Eat Bread
9. Find Silence
10. Give Back

Learning within Judaism is more than studying ... it is a form of worship. This just may be one of the primary differences between Judaism and other faith traditions. We have nearly 3,000 years worth of texts, layers of conversations, building upon the previous generations in order to grapple with our most sacred Scripture. For us Jews, learning is an essential part of our devotional lives. In addition to prayer, and righteous living, Judaism teaches a concept of תורה לשמה Torah Lishmah - the study of Torah for its own sake.

"Let me distinguish between learning and study. Study involves the acquisition and mastery of facts and their interconnections. Because followers of Yeshua are directed to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, our learning involves more than acquisition and mastery. It involves all four faculties—heart, mind, soul, and strength—and becomes for us a consuming act of love and worship. Learning is an embodied spiritual practice that enables us to cleave to God and one another.

Learning is worship. While this is no truer for Messianic Jews than for others, our years of involvement in Jewish life taught us that this view of learning is particularly Jewish. It has been carried forward by Jews for about two thousand years now. Sadly, it is not yet embedded in Messianic Jewish life, where learning is more like study, an acquiring of information (even revelation) that is necessary to walk closely with God—but not worship. The new Messianic Jewish learning insists that these writings of our people—the Tanakh, the Brit Hadashah (New Testament), midrash, Talmud, and more—are not valuable only for what they contain and describe but because they enable us to worship God specifically as Jews."

“I’m 17 now, and as lazy as it sounds, I’m indifferent to being Jewish. My mom doesn’t like the idea very much … But what makes me a Jew? We don’t go to temple, we don’t celebrate Shabbat, and we barely talk about Judaism … On top of [it], my family provides me with lots of reminders about how hard it is to be Jewish …

As a teenager I’m deciding who I want to be, but when I think about Judaism, it doesn’t even make the list. Nor do I feel guilty about it. How un-Jewish is that?”

-Joshua Raifman – Youth Radio (March 31, 2010)

We now live in a world where Jewishness is no longer a given.

“Why is being Jewish important?” many young Jews ask. “Because it just is!” their parents answer. The failure of this message to satisfy deeply rooted human longings for purpose and vision is in evidence in the pews of nearly every standard issue suburban synagogue – a handful of mostly retirees and Boomers, with their children in attendance only for obligatory occasions or B’nai Mitzvah preparation.

The New American Jew

The New American Jew is a category that encompasses three primary generations – young Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and Millennials (Gen Y). According to Rabbi Sidney Schwarz,[1] the New American Jew is identified by three unique identity markers: They were born after the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel; they were raised without significant experiences in anti-Semitism, and raised in relative affluence and prosperity. The result is that the New American Jew is less inclined to build his or her identity around Israel or the Holocaust, and the rallying cry ‘Save the Jews!’ is less likely to resonate with them. Above all, remaining Jewish is no longer a given. Being Jewish is a choice.

Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, in his book, ReThinking Synagogues, recalls a particular experience from a weekend retreat that may be helpful to this discussion:

“A couple at the back of the room stood out. As the only people under forty, they had sat quietly for all of Shabbat, somewhat ignored by the others … Hesitantly, one of them raised a hand … ‘We came here not knowing what we would find … but it seems to me that none of the questions asked so far has any relevance. The only question that counts for us is ‘Why be Jewish?’ That is what we came to find out.’

After a momentary hush, the room erupted in one denunciation after another – all quietly delivered, as if the crowd of older attendees were disciplining children. How could these young Jews be so callous …? The reason for being Jewish is self-evident, isn’t it? How dare they even question that, [especially] after what happened in Europe?”[2]

For far too long the question of “Why be Jewish?” has remained largely unanswered and primarily dismissed within both the wider Jewish community and the Messianic Jewish Movement. However, if we are to have any sort of impact on a new (and ongoing) generation of Jews, we must recognize this as a legitimate question.

We often spend too much time trying to come up with answers to questions most Jews are not really asking. Our ability to reach our people depends solely on our ability to relate and engage them spiritually. In reality, the particular question of why be Jewish happens to be far more pressing for most American Jews than their questions about Yeshua. We do not have to see this as a threat, however, but rather a challenge.

A great number of our people are currently moving toward a spirituality that can answer their deep-felt spiritual needs. It is really no secret. What we Jews are seeking today is the same thing Jews have always sought – to simultaneously connect with G-d and to find our place within thirty centuries of Jewish history.

Because Jewishness is no longer a given, and viewed as a choice, the New American Jew is seeking a spirituality that is compelling. If we want to engage new generations we’ll need to think out of the box, considering multiple “entry points” into community life and into faith. Our people are looking for something to believe in. Although many may not recognize it as such, they are looking for faith. But, they are seeking a faith that can engage them spiritually, intellectually, socially, and Jewishly. Our ability to reach our people, and ultimately communicate the message of Yeshua depends largely on our ability to communicate from within our community, and through a vibrant Jewish Spirituality, infused and renewed by our Divine Messiah.

*Adapted from a paper I presented at the second Borough Park Symposium in April 2010.

"The ‘Gen-Y’ers wish to live lives that matter. They are hungry for community and where they do not find ones that welcome them, they will create their own. They do not wish to escape, but to engage; they do not want to judge or to be judged, but to join. They do not desire indictment, they seek inspiration. They are also not willing to accept the community silos of the past but are interested in models that perform. They are not interested in being silent partners in an organizational bureaucracy but want to matter and will accept process only if it leads to purpose. They are looking to change the spelling of their gaming console, the Wii from two i’s to an “e.’’

If we create portals of entry, share with them our story undiluted or whitewashed, and find the courage to let them make it their own they will do something that we can’t: guarantee our future."

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

-“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

-"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

-"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

‎-"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated."

-‎"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality.”

-“I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

Parashat Shemot

Shemot is the first Torah portion in the book of Exodus and contains the narrative of Moses’ early childhood, his flight to Midian, his encounter with the Divine, and his return to Egypt.

In Matthew 6:1-18, Yeshua emphasizes the importance of kavana, of proper intention, in observance of Torah commands. According to Yeshua, the intention of observing the mitzvot should not be so that others see you doing them, but rather out of obedience to HaShem.

When giving tzedaka, Yeshua states that one is to do so without drawing attention to one’s self, or to the amount. For when done so “your tzedaka will be a secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you (vs. 4).

In the same way, Yeshua also states that when praying, you are not to pray in a way that draws attention to yourself. But rather, you are to go secretly into your “prayer closet.” For our communication is the primary link in our relationship with the Divine. For when we pray in secret, and do not attempt to win the admiration of others, our Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward us (vs. 6).

Yeshua also gives us some unique insight into prayer itself. That we should not worry about being eloquent, or wordy. But to pray simply, “for your Father knows what you need before you even ask him (vs. 8).” This idea that G-d is more pleased with the humble prayers of the righteous is paralleled in the Talmud:

The pattern Yeshua follows with (commonly known as “the Lord’s Prayer”) is actually the basic outline of several prayer formulas common within Jewish tradition. The beginning of the prayer, “Our Father in Heaven – Avinu She’BaShamayim,” is the opening of several liturgical prayers in Judaism. And the following line, “may your Name be kept holy” is echoed in the Kaddish – “yitgadal v’yitkadash, shmey raba - magnified and sanctified be your great name.”

What Yeshua does is give us a pattern for prayer. It is not a magic formula, or the only way to pray, but the basic format for acknowledging and communicating with G-d. What is additionally interesting is that this prayer of Yeshua incorporates and acknowledges patterns of prayer already existing within the Jewish world. Yeshua appropriates and further invigorates the words of tradition and gives them a fuller meaning and understanding.

Yeshua's common practice is to give Jewish tradition a deeper and fuller meaning. To correct misunderstandings and interpretations that miss the central tenet of justice, mercy and faith (Mt. 23:23). In our observance of the mitzvot, may we take heed the words of Yeshua, and live out Torah with the holiest of intentions, and do the mitzvot to honor G-d, rather than the approval or admiration of others.

Tonight is the beginning of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, recalls the triumphant events of the Maccabees, and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem following its desecration by the forces of Antiochus and the Syrian-Greeks in the 2nd century BCE.

Hanukkah is first mentioned in the apocryphal books of Maccabees. According to 1 Maccabees:

"For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication... should be observed... every year... for eight days (1 Mac. 4:56–59)."

The festival of Hanukkah recalls two primary miracles:

1) That a small untrained and ill-equipped army of Jews were able to defeat the mighty forces of the Syrian-Greeks, and;

2) The miracle of the oil burning for eight days.

According to the oldest traditions of Hanukkah, the heroic acts of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple are the primary points to the story. Interestingly, the “miracle of the oil” does not actually appear in the apocryphal books of Maccabees. The first place the miracle of oil appears is in the Talmud (Shabbat 21).

Following an earlier discussion on Shabbat candles, the Talmud shifts its attention to Hanukkah. The Talmud states that the forces of Antiochus were driven from the Temple, and that only a single container of ritual olive oil used to light the menorah was found which still contained the official unbroken seal of the Cohen Gadol (the High Priest). There was only enough oil for one day. However, the menorah miraculously burned in the Temple for eight days (the exact amount of time needed to create more oil).

The Gospels record that Yeshua himself observed the festival of Hanukkah:

“At the time the festival of Hanukkah took place in Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua went up to the Temple and was walking in the portico of Solomon. Then a number of Jews gathered around him, and were saying to him, ‘How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’

Yeshua answered, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of me … I and the Father are One’ (John 10:22-30).”

As such, since the days of the Maccabees, the Jewish community has observed the eight days of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is indeed a Festival of Light. It recalls not just our redemption from tyranny and oppression, but it is also a story of hope and covenant faithfulness. As we observe the eight nights of Hanukkah beginning tonight, may we keep in mind our role to also be bearers of light. For just as our ancestors, the Maccabees, overcame the forces of an enemy power, so too are we able to overcome the forces in life that work against us. For as Romans 8:37 states, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Tyrants and enemies cannot quench the pintele yid (the Jewish spark), nor the light of Mashiach within each one of us. As we commemorate the rededication of the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple), may we also use this time to rededicate ourselves to living a life of Torah, avodah (service unto HaShem), and ma’asim tovim (acts of loving kindness toward all).

We have an opportunity to shine even brighter than the menorah which once stood (and will stand again) in the Temple through partnering with G-d in bringing redemption into the world, and preparing the world for the coming of Mashiach.

As we celebrate Hanukkah tonight, and continuing through the eight days, may each one of us experience the tremendous light of a joyous season.

Happy Hanukkah!