Rosh Hashanah

L'Shanah Tova! Happy (Jewish) New Year! Yes, I'm late. Also, a bit lazy, so here's a repost to tide everyone over. As many of you already know, we are entering into the fall High Holy Days, comprised of the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Just as the spring Feastdays celebrate the First Coming of …

Shavuot, Torah, Spirit, and Unity (Revised)

Shavuot is a Feast that is de-emphasized in the traditional Jewish community (due to two thousand years of being forbidden to own farmland) and largely misunderstood in Christendom. Yet it is one of the three pilgrimage Feasts, in which all the men of Israel were commanded to present themselves before the Holy One. It turns […]

Yom Kippur: Ritual and Moral Purity

First, before starting this this new article I'd like to present my previous articles on the subject, since they give some background: Yom Kippur, Part 1: Traditions and Blood Yom Kippur, Part 2: The Exodus and the Future Did God Reject the Sacrifice Because of Yeshua?  A Response to Rabbi Singer Yom Kippur! There is no holier day …

Rosh Hashanah

As many of you already know, we are entering into the fall High Holy Days, comprised of the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Just as the spring Feastdays celebrate the First Coming of Messiah Yeshua, and Shavuot (Pentecost) celebrates the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) to the Ekklesia in between the …

From Jediism to Judaism: Star Wars as Jewish Allegory

It is a period of civil war. A new government has declared the practice of the old faith a crime punishable by death, disbanding an ancient order of sages and sending many into exile. Rebel fighters, striking from a hidden base, have won their first major victory against the evil Empire, stirring a spirit of …

Random Thoughts As I Approach the New Year

Yom Teruah (the Day of the Trumpet Blast), aka Rosh Hashanah (the Head of the Year) is almost upon us. My wife is out visiting a friend who is in need of encouragement with our two little ones, my daughter is entertaining a friend she just made at her new school, and I'm in the …

Purim: The Hidden Hand of Hashem

The book of Esther is certainly an odd duck. Alone of all the books of the Tanakh (OT), it does not contain any direct mention of Hashem, not even to state that its principles prayed for their deliverance. Martin Luther was certainly vexed by the book, writing in Table Talk,  I am so great an enemy …

Happy Hanukkah

As my little bit towards celebrating the holiday, here's a short story I wrote as an introduction for my upcoming book, Reforging the Menorah: Icy cold winds whistled atop Mount Moriah, cutting through the cloaks of the men who approached it through the old City of David, armed with sword and spear. The armor and shields …

HaBikkurim and Resurrection

I just realized two things: First, that my current series has run out and I'm not quite ready to post the next one. Second, that I've never done a post on HaBikkurim, the Feast of Firstfruits. That's really odd, since while Firstfruits is considered a very minor High Holy Day in mainline Judaism (due to a …

Plans for Tisha B’Av

Mourning on Tisha B'AvTisha B'Av is upon us again, so I'm reposting last year's summary of the day along with some observations that struck me this year. It’s a solemn occasion, a time to remember the destruction of the two Temples as well as numerous other calamities that have befallen the Jews on this day …