There’s a tremendous amount of anticipation and excitement each year as Passover approaches. This is especially true if your congregation hosts a community Seder, as mine has done for the past ten years. Although the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for eight days in the diaspora (seven inside of Israel), a set of events is triggered by the beginning of Passover and the passing of the first Seder meal on the 15th of Nissan (sundown on Monday, March 29th, this year).

From the Gospel record, we know that Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified on the 14th of Nissan between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the times of the offering of lambs for the continual burnt offering in the Temple in Jerusalem. After he died, his body was removed from the execution stake, and Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could have custody of the body. Joseph, with the aid of Nicodemus, took the body of the Master, wrapped it in linens, as was the burial custom, and placed it in a nearby tomb, just before sunset on the 14th. The stone was rolled in place, concealing the body of Yeshua as the sun dipped below the hills of Jerusalem.

Read the rest of this entry »

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation (for Passover) and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. -John 19:38-42

Tonight at sundown begins the special Sabbath of Passover, a day when we do none of our normal work, a day when we commemorate so many things. But what does that make today? This is what John called “Preparation Day” in the above scripture. This is the day Yeshua was hung on the execution stake. This is the day when millions of Jews crowded Jerusalem in the days of the Holy Temple, and offered their lambs as sacrifice according to the Torah of God. This is also the day our homes should be thoroughly cleaned of all chametz; leavening agents, just as our hearts must be cleaned of all unrighteousness.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the light of Sabbath
-Blessing for Kindling the Shabbat Lights

Consider how many “light” metaphors are used in the Bible as well as actual objects and events that mention or describe light. While the lighting of the shabbat candles is a rabbinically mandated law found in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 263:2, and not in the written Torah, it is a very beautiful and meaningful way to welcome the Shabbat into your home. Beyond that, I think the tradition of lighting candles right before Erev Shabbat is a reminder of the other forms of light we’ve learned to cherish. Consider the Master’s own words:

Yeshua (Jesus) spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness again but will have light which gives life” -John 8:12 (CJB)

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t often politicize content in my congregation’s blog, but Congregation Shema Yisrael has a long history of supporting the Holy Land and remembering Jerusalem as the City of David and the eternal site of the Holy Temple. With that in mind, I pass along this message I received via email from Women in Green.

If there was ever a time to stand up for the sanctity and unity of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and for Israel as a Jewish nation, the time is now.

Read the rest of this entry »

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Rabbi asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
-Luke 22:7-13

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to recline at the table on that night, knowing everything that had happened for the past three years and what was going to happen within the next 24 hours? I spend more time pondering that thought each year as Passover approaches. I’ve already stopped buying products containing leaven and am finishing off what leavened products remain in my home. My wife has just finished a good cleaning of our home, but now it’s time to go over it again, this time purging all of the chametz (leaven).

It’s not just preparing our home for the Passover, but preparing our hearts to welcome in the Lamb of God in a very special and unique way.

Read the rest of this entry »

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? -Matthew 16:24-26

The above referenced words of the Master are probably among the most quoted in traditional Christianity, communicating that we must serve God, the Messiah, and each other, rather than attempting to serve ourselves and achieve the goals the rest of the world pursues. Yeshua (Jesus) isn’t advocating suicide when he tells us to “lose our life” in order to save it, but rather, to focus our lives not on “here and now” material success, but rather on those things considered treasures in Heaven.

And yet, while we are not considered citizens of the world, we still have to live in it. Our friends and loved ones live in it. Even after we pass and go the way of our fathers, our children and grandchildren remain. Does citizenship in Heaven mean letting the world “go to hell?” Here’s what I mean.

Read the rest of this entry »

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. -1 Corinthians 11:23-34

What meal is Paul talking about? I thought I had offered a fairly credible answer in my recent blog article Eating at the Master’s Table but I still get questions about it and of course, not everyone agrees with my conclusions. It’s OK for people not to agree with me, but it always makes me re-check my information to see if I could have erred (and I’m certainly capable of making mistakes). I hadn’t planned to explore the issue further at this point, but then I read the FFOZ article What is the Meal of the Messiah?

Read the rest of this entry »