I’ll never forget the first time I visited Israel. After spending several days touring Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee, it was finally time to go up to Jerusalem.

And up we went! I did not realize how high Jerusalem sat until our tour bus climbed the winding highway. We rounded a corner, and as the color of the buildings began to change to a golden stone, I heard crying. A precious Jewish woman seated behind me was seeing the holy city for the first time. I was humbled as I quietly listened to her tell her husband how her father and uncle died before setting their eyes on the city they longed for. She said, “‘Next year in Jerusalem’ is what we said every year at Passover. And here I am—how do I deserve this?”

Through the Jewish people’s hard work and God’s blessings, swamps and barren land were transformed into life, just as Scripture foretold.

I visited Israel for the same reason most Christians do: to walk where my Savior walked and to see where the Bible stories I had heard my entire life happened. I wanted to experience the modern State of Israel. Through the Jewish people’s hard work and God’s blessings, swamps and barren land were transformed into life, just as Scripture foretold (Isaiah 35:1).

However, the Jewish people’s desire for Israel is special. Their hearts are forever knit to this land because of God’s everlasting covenant with them.

A Time to Remember

Every spring, as we prepare to celebrate Easter, the Jewish people prepare for Passover. As Christians rejoice in hope and celebrate Jesus the Messiah, who came and died for man’s sins, rose on the third day, and promised to return one day, the Jewish people gather to remember and celebrate God delivering them from Egypt and leading them to the Promised Land. Both Christians and Jewish people are waiting for the Messiah to come for His own. 

If you ever had the privilege of attending a Passover Seder, you know it is a richly symbolic meal. Participants journey through the Israelites’ Exodus with four cups that symbolize the four “I wills” God promised them in Exodus 6:6–7:

1. The cup of sanctification: “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

2. The cup of praise: “I will rescue you from their bondage.”

3. The cup of redemption: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.”

4. The cup of acceptance: “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.”

God makes one more, two-pronged “I will” statement: “I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.” (v. 8). Some call this last cup the cup of hope, or the cup of Elijah, as the prophet Malachi wrote, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5–6). Jewish tradition teaches that the prophet Elijah will signal the Messiah’s coming. The Passover table reserves an empty place setting and cup in hope that Elijah will appear and the Messiah will come for His people.

A Cry of Hope

God commanded the Israelites to observe Passover as a time of remembrance: “So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:17). It is also a time of hopeful anticipation. At the end of the Seder meal, it is customary to say together, “Next year in Jerusalem!”, or in Hebrew, “L’shana ha-ba’a bi-Yerushala’yim!” 

This cry may seem strange to us living in a post-1948 world. Before the establishment of the modern State of Israel, the Jewish people could only dream of returning home to their Promised Land. Today, millions of Jewish people proclaim, “L’shana ha-ba’a bi-Yerushala’yim!”, while sitting in the actual city! So does that mean the cries of their hearts are satisfied? Not quite

The Jewish people long for the day the Prince of Peace will set His feet upon the Mount of Olives and bring shalom: true, lasting peace.

If you walk down Jerusalem’s streets and ask what “L’shana ha-ba’a bi-Yerushala’yim!” means, you might receive as many different answers as people. Many, like the precious woman I heard on my tour bus, are visiting the land they have read about, prayed over, and longed for. The more religious may explain that the Temple, not Jerusalem itself, has yet to be rebuilt. Scripture says a future Temple is coming where the glory of God will return (Ezekiel 40—48). However, a more secular Jewish person would probably say the phrase is a “state of mind” and a message of future peace. Whatever their answer, “next year in Jerusalem” is a cry of hope and anticipation. God is calling the Jewish people back to their land, just as Scripture promised.

As the Jewish people sit together in the coming weeks to celebrate and remember the Passover all over the world, they will end their time together reading this Psalm of Ascent (126):

When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continuously goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

What was once a dream to return to the land is now a reality. 

A Bright Future

The Jewish people long for the day the Prince of Peace will set His feet upon the Mount of Olives and bring shalom: true, lasting peace (Zechariah 14:4, 9). Scripture says the time leading to this day will not be easy for those left on Earth during the Tribulation, but believers in Jesus know God has ordained every plan and act of man to carry out His amazing plan of redemption. So, this Passover, as the Jewish people around the world cry out, “Next year in Jerusalem!”, let us pray with great hope and anticipation for the peace of Jerusalem and for God to work mightily in their hearts.

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About the Author

Growing up in a Gentile, Christian home I never knew anything about Hanukkah. I was far too focused on Christmas traditions (and presents!) to pay attention to why Jewish folks didn’t do the same things. Though eight days of presents sounded intriguing, that’s about all I knew or cared for Hanukkah—until, that is, I began to understand that as an observant Jewish Man, Jesus celebrated all the Jewish holidays, even the ones that weren’t required in the Old Testament. And since I did care about Jesus, this eventually caught my attention:

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:22–24).

Once I learned that the Feast of Dedication was Hanukkah, I had questions. What was Hanukkah? Why did the Jewish people of Jesus’ day celebrate a holiday that wasn’t required in the Torah? Why did Jesus travel all the way to Jerusalem to be there for it? Should Christians know more about Hanukkah?

I believe that a Christian, in light of Jesus’ teaching at Hanukkah in John 10, can understand Him and His ministry just a little bit better by knowing this ancient Jewish holiday.

The Making of a Holiday

Many of my American Jewish friends joke that every Jewish holiday can be stripped down to this basic description: “They tried to kill us; we won; let’s eat!” It’s funny because it’s very close to the truth about how central delicious traditional foods are to Jewish celebrations. Jewish holidays are tasty holidays!

I believe that a Christian, in light of Jesus’ teaching at Hanukkah in John 10, can understand Him and His ministry just a little bit better by knowing this ancient Jewish holiday.

But the first half of that saying is surprisingly true too. Many Jewish holidays, ancient and modern, were born out of someone’s attempt to destroy the Jewish people. Repeatedly throughout history Jewish people have been threatened with annihilation. If you study the shocking history of persecutions, ghettos, expulsions, and pogroms (not to mention the Holocaust) that the Jewish people have suffered—only to be reestablished again and again—then you’ll know why they celebrate so lavishly. Hanukkah is no exception.

You may have heard the basic story of Hanukkah’s history. The Greeks had conquered and dominated much of the world, including Israel in the 2nd century BC. They intentionally spread their cultural influence to make all people become Greek, a process called Hellenization. Many Jewish people didn’t Hellenize very easily. In response, one Greek ruler from Syria named Antiochus went so far as to outlaw all Jewish worship practices. He even sacrificed a pig to a Greek god on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem—all to try to destroy Jewish culture, worship, and identity. 

But when Jewish freedom fighters (the Maccabees) finally defeated the Greeks in 164 BC and took control of the Temple, they rededicated the Temple complex and reinstituted the daily sacrifices prescribed in the Law. They also relit the lampstands in the Temple and held a belated eight-day celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, which had been neglected for three years. But according to rabbinic sources, they only had enough consecrated oil to burn the lamps for one day, not the required eight days of the celebration. Since the lamps were supposed to burn continuously (Leviticus 24:3), and it took time to consecrate more, God performed a miracle to make one day’s worth of oil burn for eight whole days—according to the rabbis, that is.

Interestingly, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote around 150 years before the rabbis did, gives some indication that the story of the oil may have been a myth invented by the rabbis. He called the celebration the “Festival of Lights,” but not because of the oil and lamp light. Josephus claimed that the reason the Jewish people celebrated it in Jesus’ day was because it commemorated the return of their freedom to worship at the Temple. The “light” according to Josephus was freedom to worship God, blazing zealously in Jerusalem once again.

Jesus and Hanukkah

Jesus’ words in John 10 shine much brighter when we understand that He spoke them during the celebration of Hanukkah. During the time when Israel remembered the glorious days of revolt against Greeks and their influence, the people celebrated their only brief time of freedom since their exile. They revered the religiously zealous warrior priests who freed them and called them to wholeheartedly follow God. The message of Hanukkah in Jesus’ day was that Israel should uncompromisingly live as God’s people, worshiping God alone at the Temple. It was about purity in Temple worship and freedom from oppression by Gentiles.

The message of Hanukkah in Jesus’ day was that Israel should uncompromisingly live as God’s people, worshiping God alone at the Temple.

This was the mindset of the people of Israel when Jesus walked through the beautiful colonnade in the Temple court. The people were itching for freedom and spoiling for a fight. Don’t their words sound more poignant knowing this? “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly,” they told Jesus (John 10:24, NASB).

If You are the Messiah, make it clear! Set us free. Just like the Maccabees did! We want to be free of Gentile oppression and influence. We’ll follow You into battle if You’d just tell everyone plainly who You are! 

But then Jesus did something unexpected. He took His listeners’ Hanukkah priorities and refocused them on Himself. What exactly were these “Hanukkah priorities”? 

First, they wanted freedom from oppression; they wanted the Messiah to overthrow Rome and its influence, just like the Maccabees did with the Greeks. Second, they wanted the Messiah to proclaim that the Temple and zealous religious observance was the “light” to the world of what it means to worship God (which was their understanding of “the reason for the Hanukkah season,” so to speak).

Jesus’ response to their priorities was one central truth: “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).

That means He was the Anointed One (Messiah) of God.
That means everything He did proved who He was (v. 25).
That means that true worship is centered on Him (v. 27).
That means that only His influence and voice matter (vv. 26–27).
That means that nothing will shake those who know and listen to Him (vv. 28–29).
That means that the true Light, which gives light to everyone, had come into the world (1:9).

Jesus stripped away all their priorities and their agendas, for both the holiday and Messiah, and pointed the Jewish people toward Himself as the reason to celebrate. The life He offered was true, eternal freedom, not a temporary change in politics. The light He offered was a perfect unbreakable connection to God through Him, not strict religious formulas.

The light He offered was a perfect unbreakable connection to God through Him, not strict religious formulas.

According to Jesus, the focus of the Festival of Lights should be the light and life that only He, the Son of God, offers. That is the true fulfillment of all the longing of the Jewish people and Gentiles too. He’s the reason for the Hanukkah season.

And when you strip it down to the “they tried to kill us; we won; now let’s eat” version, you might say it like this: “We were dead in our trespasses and sins until Jesus snatched us into victory. Now let’s eat!”

Do you hear His voice, the Messiah who has come to give light and life? If you do, then you have every reason to celebrate, no matter what month, festival, day, or season. We know God by His grace through Messiah Jesus’ work to save us and set us free. What an incredible truth! 

How will you celebrate this December?

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About the Author

Jesus had returned. As was His custom from His youth, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. The synagogue official brought the sacred scroll parchment of the prophet Isaiah and handed it to the acting attendant, who handed it to Jesus.

All stood for the reading as He carefully unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lᴏʀᴅ is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Luke 4:18, 19). 

Silence followed, as Jesus handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat down. With all eyes intently fixed on Him, He announced, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). 

With Jesus’ proclamation that Isaiah spoke of Him, what perhaps startled the assembly most was His purpose in coming: “To proclaim [preach] the acceptable year of the Lᴏʀᴅ.” Jesus mentioned the Year of Jubilee, which to some was a type of the Messianic Kingdom to come. The phrase the acceptable year meant the season of Messiah’s true Jubilee of redemption, refreshment and rest. 

Redemption

The Year of Jubilee was a time of release of property and person throughout Israel. “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:10). This extraordinary observance highlighted the truth that God is the owner of His land, and His people are His custodians. 

The Israelites understood the Hebrew word yovel (Jubilee) differently. Some defined it as “sending away,” while others interpreted it as “freedom.” The popular meaning was “ram’s horn,” or shofar. 

Connected with Jubilee was the blowing of the trumpet or shofar on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): “Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land” (v. 9). On Yom Kippur, the high priest alone entered the holy of holies to offer the sacrificial blood. This act paid the penalty for sin and restored the people’s relationship with God (16:8–34). 

The Feast of Trumpets came 10 days before Yom Kippur. On this day the shofar was blown as a call not only to stop work and remember the Lord, but also to recall the binding of Isaac. Abraham had prepared to sacrifice his beloved son as God commanded until the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham, and a curled-horn ram suddenly appeared to be offered in Isaac’s place (Genesis 22:1–15). God spared Issac by providing a substitute. As the ram rescued Isaac from physical death, so God will provide the coming Messiah, who will rescue believers from spiritual death. 

Blowing the shofar marks the beginning and end of God’s redeeming work that Messiah would complete.

While blowing the shofar occurs at the start of the Feast of Trumpets, it is blown at the end of Yom Kippur. Thus, blowing the shofar marks the beginning and end of God’s redeeming work that Messiah would complete. 

All blood sacrifices throughout the Old Testament were shadows of the true, once-for-all sacrifice to come. “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). 

Refreshment

Another expectancy of the Jubilee is refreshment. In the rabbinic Jewish work Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Yaakov wrote, “Better is one hour of refreshment in the world to come, than the whole life of this world.” Refreshment, like restoration, is a resetting by the sovereign God. One day, a time of refreshment of all things will come: “And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ and water the Valley of Acacias” (Joel 3:18). 

Isaiah also compared God’s refreshment to a return to the Garden of Eden (Isaiah 51:3). As surely as those days will come, God will keep His promises. “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). 

Rest

During the Jubilee, God called His people to stop sowing and reaping and to rest in Him. Just as the weekly Sabbath was a day of rest (cf. Genesis 2:2–3), the Jubilee Sabbatical Year was to be a time of solemn rest. Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of the ultimate “Sabbath of Sabbaths” with a new age of peace and rest. The evangelist George Whitefield (1714–1770) once declared, “How sweet is rest after fatigue! How sweet will heaven be when our journey is ended.”

Amidst all of our burdens and trials, the same God of Israel speaks today of rest and refreshment.

Amidst all of our burdens and trials, the same God of Israel speaks today of rest and refreshment. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29). Theologian John Gill (1697–1771) offered this perspective on Jesus’ comforting teaching on rest: 

Spiritual rest here, peace of conscience, ease of mind, tranquility of soul, through an application of pardoning grace, a view of free justification by the righteousness of Christ, and full atonement of sin by his sacrifice; and eternal rest hereafter, in Abraham’s bosom, in the arms of Jesus, in perfect and uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit.

Jesus’ listeners were amazed (Luke 4:22). He symbolically linked the celebration of the Year of Jubilee with His earthly ministry. His Jubilee of redemption, restoration, and rest could only be found and fulfilled in Him. 

But some couldn’t bring themselves to believe. “So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff” (vv. 28–29). 

Jesus’ Year of Jubilee is an opportunity to make a fresh start. What will be your response?

About the Author

Eighteen-year-old Kerri Strug heard a snap. It was her left ankle. She immediately felt pain and fell backward, failing to stick the landing. It was her first vault attempt in the final all-around women’s team gymnastics event at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. The United States women’s team had never won a gold medal before. All they needed was for one of their team members to score a 9.493.

It came down to Kerri. She had one more vault attempt left. With two torn ligaments in her ankle, she flew down the runway, sprung over the vaulting horse, and stuck the landing with a 9.712 score. The thousands in the Georgia Dome, heartsick over Kerri’s injury, immediately burst into euphoria!

In biblical days, Mary Magdalene must have had a similar yet greater sweep of emotions when she first found the empty tomb and then heard her risen Master’s voice behind her (John 20:11, 16; Matthew 28:8). She went from weeping to incredible joy!

From Sorrow to Joy

The same emotions pervade the fall feasts of Israel—Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets and Civil New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Within a 15-day period during September and/or October, observant Jewish people pass from great solemnity to great rejoicing. 

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the eight days in between are called the Ten Days of Awe. Jewish observers see these days as the time when God sits in judgment, determining who will live and who will die in the coming year. In ancient days, Yom Kippur in particular was a day of self-searching humility as the nation of Israel’s sins were being atoned (Leviticus 23:27, 29). Nevertheless, five days after the national cleansing, a seven-day period of national rejoicing took place (v. 40).

Prophetic Parallels

As Yom Kippur was a time of national cleansing, so, too, after the Messiah returns, Israel as a nation will receive a national cleansing, a new heart, and a new spirit.

Prophetically, the fall feasts of Israel foreshadow events surrounding the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah that impact the nation of Israel. When Jesus returns, Israel will mourn greatly over its pierced Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). Following that, as the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah gathered the people together to prepare them for judgment, so the blowing of the trumpet after the return of the Messiah will be for the same purposes—to gather Israel together (Isaiah 27:12–13; Matthew 24:31) and to prepare them for a final judgment (Ezekiel 20:33–38). 

As Yom Kippur was a time of national cleansing, so, too, after the Messiah returns, Israel as a nation will receive a national cleansing, a new heart, and a new spirit (36:24–27; Zechariah 13:1; Isaiah 4:4).

Finally, as Sukkot was a reminder of God dwelling with His people Israel when they lived in booths in the wilderness, so, too, will the Messiah dwell with His people Israel during the Millennial Kingdom (Isaiah 4:5–6; Ezekiel 43:7; Zechariah 14:16)—another example of going from weeping to great joy!

No Obligation

Taking all of this into account, some Christians might ask the question, “Should Christians celebrate the fall feasts of Israel?”

The feasts of Israel “are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17).

The operative word here is should. If you mean should in the sense of obligation, then, no, Christians should not celebrate the fall feasts of Israel. The reason is that Christians are no longer under the Law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). If you have a Law-keeping mindset that says you must do good deeds in order to earn God’s favor, then you’ve nullified the grace of God, and Jesus Christ went to the cross needlessly (Galatians 2:21).

The same is true if you think you should keep the fall feasts of Israel for your personal, progressive spiritual growth into the image of Christ. The fact is, the feasts of Israel “are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17). The Law of God is good (Romans 7:16; 1 Timothy 1:8), but it has no power to justify or to sanctify (Galatians 3:21). Law-keeping is ineffective both for getting right with God and for becoming like God. We grow in Christ the same way we received Christ—by faith alone (Philippians 3:9–11; Colossians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 5:7). Like the rest of the Law, the fall feasts are worthy only to lead us, like a guide, to Jesus (Galatians 3:24).

Using the Feasts to Share the Messiah

With that being said, can Christians celebrate the fall feasts of Israel? Yes, of course, because in Christ we have that freedom (only be careful not to get entangled, Galatians 5:1). Jewish believers around the world, including in Israel, regularly keep the fall feasts, particularly Sukkot, but mostly as a cultural observance. 

Therefore, if, as with other religious holidays, you want to use the fall feasts of Israel primarily for instructional purposes, as object lessons, to point participants to the Messiah, then I recommend four focuses for your teaching:

1. Make it simple. Stay away from the rabbinical requirements so that you don’t get twisted up in a lot of preparation minutiae.

2. Make it biblical. Emphasize the themes of the fall feasts—God gathers His people, cleanses His people, and dwells with His people.

3. Make it Christ-centered. Focus on what He has done and/or what He will do in the future. Don’t just linger in the shadows. Move on to the substance: Christ.

4. Make it neighborly. Use it as an opportunity to reach out to those who do not know Jesus. 

The fall feasts of Israel are wonderful reminders of God’s Messiah, of what He has done for us, and of what He will do for Israel in the future. Our emotion-packed response is like King David’s:

“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:4–5).

About the Author

King Josiah had a problem—several, actually. He was young, 20 to be exact, having become king at the age of 8. Things hadn’t gotten any easier after he took the throne. His father had been hopelessly corrupt and decidedly pagan and took the kingdom of Judah down a perilous path.

Josiah was quite the opposite of his father. Even as a young boy, he was an ardent follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet, pagan worship surrounded him and threatened the kingdom. He faced an enormous task.

Turning the People’s Hearts

As Josiah studied God’s Word, he became an important link in the conveyance of Holy Scripture. During his reign, many ancient scrolls were brought to light, codified, copied, and preserved—a costly endeavor at that time. 

The young king’s heart was burdened. He had to bring back worship of the one true God to the kingdom. Josiah read the dire warnings of the ancient writings about straying from God and worshiping the gods of their neighbors. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been judged—how much longer before it was Judah’s turn?

Drastic reforms were needed. How drastic? That was one of those problems that King Josiah faced. How far could he push the people? He knew they needed to return to the Lord as a nation, but that meant tearing the people away from their high places and once again making them travel to Jerusalem to worship God.

Worshiping God Beyond Judah

Perhaps it was his young, flexible mind and his searching of Holy Scripture that gave him his answer. After all, God had revealed that He cannot actually be bound or contained in one building. Was it that big a stretch to then say that no one city can contain Him? Surely not. He can be worshiped anywhere at any time. 

Thus, Josiah’s reforms included this idea, which revolutionized the religious life of the Jewish people. It freed them from having to take a long, arduous trek up to Jerusalem, save for times when the people needed to make sacrifices to God; that officially remained the purview of the Temple. While not so revolutionary as to include actual edifices where God could be worshiped, those would come in time. The principle behind the synagogue was established. 

So, when did this idea become realized in the synagogue? The answer has been hotly debated by historians. The Jewish people soon saw Josiah’s concept of worshiping God outside of the Temple put to the test. Within decades of his reign, the Temple was destroyed, and most of Judah was taken into captivity. 

Couldn’t God, who is uncontainable, be taught and worshiped outside of Judah itself?

Far from home, the Jewish people knew they must retain not only their culture, but regain a connection with God. Couldn’t God, who is uncontainable, be taught and worshiped outside of Judah itself? The obvious answer was yes, and while they could not resume the sacrifices apart from the institution of the Temple, they could at least resume their worship of God. 

Gathering the People for Worship

It was presumably a short step from this realization to the synagogue. As the Jewish people worshiped, they also studied. Scrolls had made their way from Judah to the lands of Babylonia. It only seemed right that a local center was needed to house these scrolls. Likewise, there was growing a corporate sense of worship, which itself seemed born out of concepts in Holy Scripture (Exodus 3:12). All of these factors made the reality of the synagogue inevitable. 

While at first such worship may have occurred in a few select homes, this became impractical. The Jewish people needed a purpose-made building for worship as their population again started to grow.

The earliest archaeological evidence of a known synagogue resides in Egypt, dating back to the 3rd century BC. Though seemingly far from Josiah’s time, this evidence carries weight. From this synagogue’s construction, it seems a prior model was known. The building does not appear experimental or revolutionary. It is not surprising that this synagogue was found in Egypt as opposed to the lands of Babylon or Persia; Egypt was far more stable and less war-torn, even in times of foreign domination. These factors often attracted the migrations of Jewish groups as early as the time of Jeremiah the prophet. 

The synagogue unified the people and tied them more closely to God Himself.

Synagogues started to dot the lands of the Middle East in the waning centuries before Christ, as the Jewish people continued to live in firmly established communities. The land of Israel was no longer viewed as a need to define the Hebrews’ existence in the ancient world. The synagogue unified the people and tied them more closely to God Himself. 

Jewish culture and customs continued precisely because the Jewish people had the synagogue as the ever-present medium and bastion of their identity as God’s Chosen People. When the Diaspora came under the Romans and once again the Jewish people were evicted from the Holy Land, the synagogues were already an established institution that continues to this day as a preserver and perpetuator of the children of Abraham.

About the Author

The following article is an excerpt from Steve Herzig’s book Jewish Culture and Customs. Steve shares the biblical significance and current Jewish practice of wearing the tallit and tefillin. Learning what these pieces of Jewish worship are and what they mean can help you better understand our Lord and the laws He gave the Jewish people. We hope you build your expertise in Jewish culture and worship through this article!

The Tallit

Daily, at first light (except on the Sabbath and high holy days), Orthodox males (and in some cases, females) don the traditional religious garb, always making sure to put the items in just the right places, in just the right order. Each worship experience serves as an opportunity to identify afresh with their people and their God.

In the Torah we read, 

Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lᴏʀᴅ and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God (Numbers 15:38–40).

These tassels were the key element of the unusual yet attractive garb that came to be known as a tallit (pronounced tah-LEET). Made of wool or linen with blue or black stripes, the tallit has tzitziot (tasseled fringes) hanging from each of its four corners. It is these fringes that are biblical. The tallit is merely the medium to hold them. Originally worn as an outer garment, today it is primarily worn by men (and women in Reform congregations) as a prayer shawl during public and private worship.

Tallit

Many observant Jews wear a tallit katan (small tallit) under the shirt, so that the fringes may be displayed at all times. This, they believe, carries out the command, “that you may look upon it.” The tallit also serves as a memory aid to remember all 613 commandments of the Torah.

How and when a tallit is worn varies among the different cultures of Jewish people. Most men first don a tallit at the time of Bar Mitzvah, while a few wait until their wedding day. Some drape it over their heads, believing that it improves concentration during prayer. Others wear it merely as a shawl. Many twirl one of the fringes around a finger, kiss it, and then touch the Torah as it is carried around the synagogue during a worship service. All then recite the prayer, “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us to wrap ourselves in the fringed garment.” Many men are wrapped in tallits for burial. A tear is then made in one of the fringes, symbolizing the end of their obligation to observe the Law.

They were not healed by any supernatural power of the fringes but by the authority of the One wearing them.

Jesus no doubt wore a tallit, as it was the everyday outer garment common in His day. According to the Gospel writers, many people were healed by touching the “border of his garment [tzitziot]” (Mark 6:56; Luke 8:44). They were not healed by any supernatural power of the fringes but by the authority of the One wearing them. Some Jewish men have misused this God-given command by enlarging their fringes as a sign of their great spirituality (Matthew 23:5).

Believers are under no obligation to don the tallit because Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law. Instead, believers are asked to put on several other things, including the new man created in righteousness, the whole armor of God, kindness, humility of mind, meekness, long-suffering, and charity. Paul said it best in Galatians 3:27: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” May we never forget everything He has done for us.

The Tefillin

The tallit is put on first because it is used most often. The tefillin is next in importance and is worn as part of the morning worship, either at home or in the synagogue.

Tefillin

Tefillin (Hebrew, prayer) or phylacteries (Greek, amulet) consist of two small black leather boxes. Attached to these one- to two-inch cubes are long leather straps two to three feet in length. One of the boxes is placed on the shel rosh (forehead), and the other is placed on the shel yad (arm).

The shel yad contains passages of Scripture written by a scribe on one piece of parchment. These passages, taken from the Torah, are Exodus 13:1–16, and Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21.

The shel rosh contains the same Scriptures, but they are written on four separate pieces of parchment, the Exodus portion being divided between verses 10 and 11. Each tiny parchment is inserted into one of four separate compartments in the cube.

They are to remind worshipers of their commitment and consecration to the God who redeemed His people after four centuries of bondage in Egypt.

Interpreting these Torah passages literally, the rabbis of old fashioned the tefillin to comply with the command to make them “a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes” (Exodus 13:16). Symbolically, they are to remind worshipers of their commitment and consecration to the God who redeemed His people after four centuries of bondage in Egypt. They are also a reminder that God owns the worshiper’s heart and intellect. For this reason, shel yad points to the heart, and shel rosh is worn on the head.

The shel yad is placed just above the elbow with the box pointed toward the heart, always on the weaker arm. This rule comes from a rabbinic interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:8–9, which teaches that the hand that writes should be the hand that binds.

The leather strap is wrapped around the arm seven times. This practice is based on the seven Hebrew words in Psalm 145:16, “You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Ashkenazic (Eastern European ancestry) Jews wrap the strap clockwise; Sephardic (Mediterranean ancestry) Jews wrap it counterclockwise. The strap is then wound three times around the ring and middle fingers, forming the Hebrew letter for Shaddai, meaning “Almighty.” The three windings recall the passage in Hosea 2:19–20, which contains God’s threefold commitment to Israel: “I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness. . . . I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.”

Zeal is an attribute that has never been found wanting in Judaism. Indeed, those who adhere to its many traditions do not lack courage or conviction, and Christians can learn a great deal from them. Yet a built-in problem arises whenever the traditions themselves replace the reasons for them. Matthew 23:5 records that flaw as stated by the Lord Himself: “But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments” (tallit).

The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “But we see Jesus” (Hebrews 2:9). Believers are admonished not to dress with outward adornments but to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) daily.

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