משנכנס אב, ממעטין בשמחה.
"When Av begins, we decrease our joy." -- b.Taanit 29b.
Rosh Chodesh Av (the first day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar) marks the beginning an intensified period of mourning as we draw closer to the date that the Temple was destroyed.
Rosh Chodesh Av, which begins this year on Sunday evening, July 11, is also the yahrzeit of Dr. Paul Philip Levertoff, a pioneer in the Messianic Jewish movement.
Excerpt from Love and the Messianic Age:
In 1887 a nine-year-old Chasidic Jew named Feivel Levertoff was trudging home from the cheder (a Jewish day school) when a discarded scrap of paper caught his eye. It was printed with Hebrew text. Supposing it was a leaf from a prayer book or other sacred volume, Feivel picked it out of the snow.
He quickly read the piece of paper. It was a page from a book he had never read before. It told the story of a boy like himself--not much older either--whose parents found him in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, expounding the Scriptures and learning with the great sages of antiquity.
When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. (Luke 2:45-47, NASB).
True to his prestigious family ancestry, nine-year-old Feivel was already showing signs of becoming a great scholar when he found the scrap from the Gospel of Luke. That explains why he was so intrigued by the mysterious page from the forbidden book.
Some time later Feivel unwittingly came across another Gospel passage--this time from the book of John. Because of John's rich, mystical content, Feivel assumed the text was a Chasidic discourse. When he realized that he had actually been reading the Gospel of John, his curiosity about Christianity and its forbidden books was heightened.
After bar mitzvah at the age of thirteen, Feivel began his formal education at the prestigious Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania, where he excelled in his studies and graduated early. He was well on his way to becoming a celebrated rabbi.
He continued his learning at a university in the Prussian city of Königsberg. It was there, at the age of seventeen, that he encountered the Gospels again. Outside of his community and far from home, this time he determined to read them through.
The writings led him to a profound and shaking conclusion: Yeshua of Nazareth had indeed been the promised Messiah. From then on, Feivel was the devoted Chasid of Rebbe Yeshua from Nazareth.
For Messianic Judaism of our own day, Feivel Paul Philip Levertoff is a hero of the previous generation, a trailblazer and luminary ahead of his time. The Lord did indeed grant him understanding, knowledge, and wisdom to be an example to his generation, an example to our generation and to the generations that will come after us. Services in Messianic Jewish congregations today are similar to those Levertoff conducted a generation ago. From the time he first came to Messiah to the end of his life, Levertoff understood that the faith practiced by Yeshua and his followers was Judaism. Though he lived in a Christian world, he did not abandon his convictions about Judaism, his Chasidic roots, or his steadfast belief that the Gospels and Apostolic Writings belonged to Judaism.
In the last years of Dr. Levertoff's life, he took a position as the honorary chaplain of the old "Leper Chapel" church in Ilford, England. By spring of 1954, his health was failing, but Levertoff received permission from his doctor to attempt leading the Good Friday and Resurrection services. In Anglican tradition, a Good Friday prayer service and series of teachings is conducted from noon until 3:00 PM called the "Three Hours," commemorating our Master's last three hours on the cross.
Dr. Levertoff led the teaching and liturgy through the first two hours, but just as he was beginning his sermon of the third hour which remembers our Master's death, Levertoff paused in mid-sentence, hesitated, and said, "I am sorry, I must stop for a moment." He slowly descended from the pulpit and sat in the pew below. In the startled silence, everyone in the congregation sank to their knees to pray for their beloved teacher. Dr. Levertoff made a second attempt, but again lost his strength. His congregation gathered in the courtyard to console him and speak words of encouragement as he was escorted from the chapel and into a waiting taxi with his wife.
Dr. Levertoff was hospitalized and eventually released to convalesce at his home in Ilford under the care of his wife Beatrice. As word of his illness spread, concerned Jewish and Christian friends from all over the world began to visit. The Levertoff home received a constant flow of Jews, Gentiles, Christians, and otherwise. His wife Beatrice described her husband's last days:
His thoughts were constantly with heavenly things, the things of earth became of no moment. In delirium he spoke only of spiritual things, of God, of his desire to express adequately his love for God. To everyone who came to see him he soon turned every talk to such matters. At such moments he would rally to such an extent that, even to the last, those who visited him could hardly grasp the frail hold he now had on earthly life. (Church and the Jews, 180, Autumn 1954)
Despite volumes of prayer, his health did not improve, and he suffered for three months. Shortly before his death, he rose from his bed and danced a Chasidic dance. Mrs. Levertoff described his death:
On the 31st of July, in the very early hours, saying to me his last words, which here "Good-bye," he left me to go with glad relief from pain, into the waiting outstretched arms of the Lord he so loved so utterly ... All trace of pain left, and he smiled, serene and sure in a way that convinced all who looked on him that he was not just at peace, resting from his pain, but had attained his heart's desire--to magnify Him as he really would wish ... His great learning was all forgotten in his goodness, his loving-kindness, his wise, good heart. (Church and the Jews, 180, Autumn 1954)
His tombstone says, "An Israelite in whom there is no guile."
Yahrzeit (יאָרצײַט) is a Yiddish word of German origin that means "time of year." It is a term for the anniversary of a person's death. Family members commemorate the yahrzeit of their loved ones by lighting a twenty-four-hour candle and reciting the Kaddish prayer:
May [God's] name be magnified and sanctified in the world that he created as he willed. May he cause his kingdom to reign, and may he cause his deliverance to sprout forth, and may he bring near his messiah during your lives, and during your days, and during the lives of the entire house of Israel, quickly and soon. Now say, Amen.
May his great name be blessed forever and for all eternity. May the name of the Holy One, blessed is he, be blessed, acclaimed, glorified, lifted up, upraised, honored, elevated and praised far above every blessing or song, acclamation or comforting word that is said in the world. Now say, Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and good life for us and for all Israel. Now say, Amen. May the one who makes peace in His heights make peace in his compassion for us and for all Israel. Now say, Amen.
Students, especially in Chasidic circles, often commemorate the yahrzeit of their teacher by gathering together to study his works or to study Torah in honor of his memory. This can often be a celebratory occasion, rather than sorrowful one.
May the memory of Dr. Paul Philip Levertoff, a luminary of the Messianic Jewish movement, serve as a blessing.
]]>In issue number 94 of messiah magazine I wrote about how rabbinic literature has preserved a number of legends about the apostle Simon Peter including the date of his death. Later in a blog post I discussed a possible death date for James the Just based on evidence from the church father Eusebius and the Jewish historian Josephus. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find out that likewise a death date for the apostle Paul has been preserved in the Syriac Church tradition.
The source is called "The Book of the Bee." It was compiled in the twelfth century by Solomon, the Bishop of Bassora and preserves a lot of very Semitic sounding material which may indeed go back to the early Jewish believers. In chapter 48 there is a discussion of the teachings of the apostles and the place of their deaths. Here is the section on Paul.
Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee by sect, of the tribe of [Benjamin]. When he had been baptized by Ananias, he wrought many miracles, and taught great cities, and bore and suffered dangers not a few for the name of Christ. Afterwards he went to Peter at Rome. When they divided the world between them, and the heathen fell to Paul's lot, and the Jewish nation to Peter, and they had turned7 many to the truth of Christ, Nero commanded that they should both die a cruel death. Then Simon asked to be crucified head downwards, that he might kiss that part of the cross where the heels of his Master had been. As they were going forth to be slain, they gave the laying on of hands of the priesthood to their disciples, Peter to Mark, and Paul to Luke. When Peter had been crucified, and Paul slain, together with many of those who had become their disciples, Mark and Luke went forth by night, and brought their bodies into the city. Now Paul's head was lost among the slain, and could not be found. Sometime after, when a shepherd was passing by the spot where the slain were buried, he found Paul's head, and took it upon the top of his staff, and laid it by his sheep-fold. At night he saw a fire blazing over it, and he went in (to the city) and informed the holy bishop Xystus (Sixtus) and the clergy of the church; and they all recognized that it was Paul's head. Xystus said to them, 'Let us watch and pray the whole night, and let us bring out the body and lay the head at its feet; and if it joins again to its neck, it will be certain that it is Paul's.' And when they had done so, the whole body was restored, and the head was joined to its neck as if the vertebrae had never been severed; and those who saw it were amazed and glorified God. From his call to the end of his life was thirty-five years; he went about in every place for thirty-one years; for two years he was in prison at Caesarea, and for two years at Rome. He was martyred in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, and was laid with great honor in the magnificent royal catacombs in Rome. They celebrate every year the day of his commemoration on the twenty-ninth of the month of Tammuz. (Translation found here)
To me the story is strikingly similar to some of the legends we find about the sages in rabbinic literature. It is also remarkable that not only has a an actual date for his death been preserved but it is a Hebrew date.
Whether it is the actual date Paul died or not, for me it does not matter so much. It is significant enough to me that no other traditional date exists. I'm always looking for an opportunity to remember the Master Yeshua and his Apostles more and more, so this this year on Tammuz 29 my family and I will be remembering the man who was designated the "Apostle to the Gentiles." May his memory serve as a blessing.
]]>But Chassidic Jewish practice provides a remarkable parallel called shirayim. Shirayim (שיריים) means "leftovers." Some Chassidic Rebbes distribute food to their Chassidim that they have first blessed and partaken of. [1] Chassidim believe that, through this practice of eating the leftovers from their Rebbe's table, the disciples intimately connect themselves to their Rebbe and to God himself. While this practice did not show up until almost two thousand years after the Gospels, it provides a worthy area of exploration as we search out Jewish parallels to the Last Seder.
Leftovers
Although the Chassidic custom of shirayim did not fully evolve until about the nineteenth century, we find earlier texts that allude to the sacramental nature of eating a meal. The Torah itself commands the priests to consume portions of the sacrifice brought by the Israelites as a key part in the atonement process. When commenting on Exodus 18:12 where Jethro brings a sacrifice and then he and all the elders eat bread together before God, the Talmud cites Rabbi Abin:
If one partakes of a meal at which a scholar is present, it is as if he feasted on the effulgence of the Divine Presence, since it says, "And Aaron came and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God." (b.Berachot 64a)
Eating a meal with tzaddikim ("righteous individuals") was considered as if one had eaten in the presence of God himself. Additionally we read of the practice of Rabbi Jonathan who would enter the synagogue in the morning after a seudat mitzvah ("festive meal") and consume the crumbs that were left by those who had celebrated this holy meal. [2] He would say, "Let my lot be with him who eats here evenings." [3] Capitalizing on the Torah commandment of leaving the corners of one's field un-gleaned for the poor, [4] the Talmud taught that leaving leftovers at the table was so important that he who doesn't do so "will never see a sign of blessing." [5] Therefore the concept began to develop early on that leftovers bring blessing and that eating the food of the righteous connects an individual to them.
The Talmud teaches that sharing in the kos shel brachah (the cup of wine that grace after meals is said over) brings blessing upon the members of the household. [6] At the Last Seder, Yeshua chose the "cup after they had eaten" (Luke 22:20), the cup over which he would have recited the blessing after the meal, to be symbolic of his blood and thus distribute to his disciples. It is a short leap from these Talmudic-era ideas to what we see in the later Chassidic custom of shirayim.
This has been cited as a source for the Chassidic custom of consuming shirayim--the left-overs of the food and drink of a Rebbe-Tzaddik, and in particular the wine of kos shel berachah (the cup over which he recites grace after meals)--which in general is a source of blessing. [7]
The Rebbe's Tisch
Although the practice of shirayim takes on various forms in Chassidic circles today, such as a Rebbe handing out fruit and nuts at special occasions or disciples of a Rebbe receiving pieces of bread and wine from Rebbe's Kiddush, the most elaborate form is found at a Rebbe's tisch. Tisch (טיש) is a Yiddish word meaning "table" which in Chassidic circles refers to a communal festive meal that takes place either on Shabbat or a Festival. It has been called the "the most enduring and significant public ritual in Hasidic life." [8] The whole meal takes on both an elaborate and sacred tone, keeping two Chassidic principles in mind: dibbuk chaverim (דבוק חברים), the "bonding of friends" and avodah begashmiyot (עבודה בגשמיות) which refers to serving God even in seemingly mundane activities such as eating. At these joyous meals, filled with singing and dancing, the Rebbe would divulge some of the most treasured and intimate of all his Torah teachings.
One of the elements that make these meals so special is the veneration the Chassidic disciples have for their Rebbe. [9] The Rebbe is considered to be a tzaddik, an extremely righteous person who has an intimate connection with God. To the Chassidim, he is their intermediary between them and their heavenly Father. The closer they come to him, the closer they come to God. Therefore the tisch becomes a time to bind themselves with their Rebbe in a unique way.
At the tisch, the shirayim take on an entirely different level. There is usually a huge platter of food where the Rebbe partakes of a small portion and then the food is passed around for all present to take a portion of his "leftovers." The idea is that by partaking of the leftovers of the Rebbe, the disciple is able to connect with him, receive a spiritual blessing, and in turn connect with God. The desire to connect with the tzaddik was so strong that at times it would even lead to frenzy.
It is therefore not surprising that the Hasidim believed the food left over by a Tzaddik had been sanctified, because--given their faith in him--he had already refined everything which needed refining in it and rectified it, so that it was worthy of having blessings rest upon it. That was why they considered the shirayim so holy that they would jump from their places and literally push and shove one another just in order to grab a crumb of the shirayim of a Tzaddik. [10]
The food actually becomes an extension of the Rebbe himself and eating that food connects one to him. The food that the Rebbe had touched was considered holy and not to be wasted. The Chassidim feel that "he sanctifies all the food in his platter and a blessing rests upon it all." [11] The whole meal takes on the symbolism and the tone of a priest offering a sacrifice at the altar in the Holy Temple.
Once, Rabbi Monele Karliner entered the tish [table] of Rabbi Shmuel of Karlin and the Ratner Maggid was cutting the meat for him. His face was burning like a torch, and he took a piece of meat and put it in his mouth and said: I eat this with the same intent as the High Priest in the Holy Temple would eat the sin offering; then he took another piece and said, this one, as a burnt offering. [12]
At the tisch, "the Rebbe's priestly powers are manifested during his administration of the sacramental rites of sanctifying, eating and then distributing to the assembled the shirayim [remains] of his Sabbath meal." [13] Much, like the ancient Israelites partaking of a thanksgiving offering together with the priest, the Chassid counts it a privilege and an immense blessing to sit and enjoy the food of his Rebbe.
The Last Seder
When compared with the Chassidic custom of shirayim, the Master's behavior and language at his Last Seder does not seem foreign to Judaism at all. As we pointed out in rabbinic and Chassidic circles it was this cup of wine after the meal, the kos shel berachah that was considered to be the most special.
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28)
Even the controversial discourse in John 6 has a Chassidic ring to it.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)
In both these Gospel accounts and the Chassidic shirayim we have the idea of connecting to a tzaddik through the eating of food and that the food actually becomes an extension of the tzaddik himself. We also have the priestly imagery of the meal being akin to a sacrifice. In fact these similarities have not gone unnoticed by modern scholars.
Not entirely unlike the Eucharist, shirayim constitute the sacrament that allows the Hasid to attain intimacy with the Divine. [14]
Also, we can see the parallel between the development of "communion" as it evolved from a formal Seder meal into a tiny piece of bread and a sip of wine and the Chassidic tisch as it evolved from a full festive meal into the disciples savoring only small morsels.
Conclusion
Although it is obvious that the actions and words of Yeshua were not influenced by the custom of shirayim and vice versa, it is encouraging to find a similar development to Yeshua's sacrament in Judaism today. It seems that however distant both practices are in the course of time, they are both outcomes of a theology and life based on Torah and Judaism.
Endnotes:
[1] The Lubavitcher Rebbe writes that this "is not a custom of Chabad which developed in Lithuania, though it is prevelant among different trends of Polish and Galacian Jewry." See Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Letters From the Rebbe (3 vols.; New York: Otsar Sifrei Lubavitch, 1998), 3:193.
[2] Ibid.
[3] y.Moed Katan 2:3 (Neusner).
[4] E.g. Leviticus 19:9-10.
[5] b.Berachot 92a.
[6] b.Berachot 51b.
[7] Jacob Schochet, The Mystical Dimension Volume Two: Chassidic Dimensions (New York: Kehot Publication Society, 1995), 98 n. 52. Later Chassidic works would seek to find justification for the shirayim custom in the text of the Tanakh, such as in "And He hath left (hishir, השאיר) behind Him a blessing" (Joel 2:14, YLT) and "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl (mishartecha, משארתך)" (Deuteronomy 28:5). Because both of these verses contain derivatives of the Hebrew word for leftovers, they are creatively interpreted to allude to this practice (See Sefer Chassidim 888 and Aaron Werthheim, Law and Custom in Hasidism [Hoboken, NJ: KTAV, 1992], 252).
[8] Allan Nadler, "Holy Kugel: The Sanctification of Ashkenazic Ethnic Foods in Chasidism," in Food and Judaism: A Special Issue of Studies in Jewish Civilization Volume 15 (ed. Leonard J. Greenspoon, Ronald A. Simkins, Gerald Shapiro; Omaha: Creighton University Press, 2005), 193-214. For a narrative story about a tisch see Paul Levertoff, "The Wisdom of the Chasids," in Love and the Messianic Age: Study Guide and Commentary (Marshfield, MO: First Fruits of Zion, 2009), 158-163.
[9] For more on the concept of Rebbe and comparisons to Gospel texts see Toby Janicki, "The Exalted Rebbe," in Love and the Messianic Age: Study Guide and Commentary (Marshfield, MO: First Fruits of Zion, 2009), 143-154.
[10] Werthheim, Law and Custom in Hasidism, 253.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Nadler, "Holy Kugel: The Sanctification of Ashkenazic Ethnic Foods in Chasidism," 195.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
Click here for Part 1. Part 2.
A Messianic Banquet
The Meal of Messiah is a relatively recent innovation in Judaism. It was only introduced a few hundred years ago, and most sects of Judaism do not observe it. Nevertheless, the concept of a coming Messianic Banquet is as old as Judaism itself. The prophet Isaiah states:
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (Isaiah 25:6)
Ancient Jewish legend has speculated about the details of this feast for thousands of years. The sages imagine that in the future, God will prepare a feast for the righteous in the Garden of Eden and recline with them at the table.[1] The main course will be the meat of the legendary beasts Leviathan and Behemoth along with wine made of grapes from the six days of creation.[2] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be present at the table along with all the righteous resurrected. At the banquet, God will crown King Messiah. The Talmud says that at the end of the meal, no one will be found worthy to say the Grace after Meals except for the Messiah who will take four cups (alluding to a Passover seder) in his hands and says the blessings.[3] Only he is without blemish and therefore deserving of such an honored position at the table.
Our Master also spoke of this great feast that is to take place in the Messianic Era. He alludes to this when he talks about those who will "recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 8:11). The Messianic banquet is called the "marriage supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:9). It is to this banquet that Yeshua refers when he told his disciples that he would not eat of the Passover again or drink from the fruit of the vine again "until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16).
The Meal of Messiah is supposed to be a rehearsal and a foretaste of the great Messianic banquet of the future. As believers, we can keep the custom of celebrating the last day of Passover with a Meal of Messiah, and express in physical form our longing for the great banquet when the final marriage of Messiah and his bride will take place. Our Master taught us to eagerly await his coming. What better way to express our anticipation than with a special meal that foreshadows his return?
A Messianic Jewish Meal of Messiah
For the last several years, my family has been keeping the Chassidic custom of ending the last day of Passover with a Meal of Messiah. Not because we are Chassidic or trying to be more orthodox, but because we have found it to be a delightful, meaningful, and joyful custom to focus us on the real meaning of Passover: the great redemptive work of our Messiah. Each year we learn more and more about it and it takes on deeper spiritual significance. Through it, we attempt to taste the Messianic Era in the here and now. At the Meal of Messiah we eat the last of the matzah and drink four cups in remembrance of the body and blood of Yeshua. We celebrate his resurrection by reading Gospel passages about the empty tomb and his appearances to his disciples. We talk about that future banquet when we will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--when Yeshua will eat of the Passover with us again and drink of the fruit of the vine with us again. We talk about how we long for his speedy coming, and we sing, and sometimes even dance. The Meal of Messiah has become my favorite part of the seven days of Passover. It's made the seventh day unique and significant for my family.
Each year, at the conclusion of the event, I have thought about how wonderful it would be to share this custom with other Messianic believers. This year, Vine of David is publishing a Meal of Messiah haggadah, The Vine of David Meal of Messiah: The Wedding Supper of the Lamb, to help introduce this beautiful custom to Messianic homes and communities.
Celebrating the last day of Passover with the Meal of Messiah has helped instill in me the idea that, each day, I must carry with me his spirit and fervently work to prepare the way for his imminent return. Maranatha! Our Master is coming!
[1] Numbers Rabbah 13:2.
[2] Rapahel Patai, Messiah Texts (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University, 1988), 244-245.
[3] b.Pesachim 119b.
The Meal of Messiah
In the seventeenth century the founder of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) instituted a new custom for the last day of Passover. He called it the Meal of Messiah (Seudat Mashiach,סעודת משיח ). It consisted of a special, additional meal on the afternoon of the last day of Passover, paralleling the traditional third meal of Shabbat. The Baal Shem Tov emphasized that the main component of the meal was matzah. After all, it was the last meal on the last day of Chag HaMatzot, the feast of Unleavened Bread. A few generations later, the Rebbe Rashab (1860-1920) added the custom of four cups of wine, mirroring the seder of the first night. Some Chassidic Jews still celebrate this special Messiah seder on the last day of the festival. They gather together to end the festival with matzah, four cups of wine, and a special focus on the Messiah.
The entire theme of the meal focuses on the coming of Messiah and the final redemption. The meal is festive in spirit. Everyone wishes one another "L'chayim! (to life!)" while discussing their insights into Messiah and their dreams and hopes for the Messianic Era. The meal concludes with fervent singing and dancing in joyous elation over the promise of the Messianic redemption.
What is the connection between the last day of Passover and the coming of Messiah? The Tzemach Tzedek writes:
The last day of Pesach is the conclusion of that which began on the first night of Pesach. The first night of Pesach is our festival commemorating our redemption from Egypt by the Holy One, Blessed be He. It was the first redemption, carried out through Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the first redeemer; it was the beginning. The last day of Pesach is our festival commemorating the final redemption, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, will redeem us from the last exile through our righteous Moshiach, who is the final redeemer. The first day of Pesach is Moshe Rabbeinu's festival; the last day of Pesach is Moshiach's festival.[1]
One is incomplete without the other: the first redemption is connected to the last. The sages say, "In Nisan they were redeemed and in Nisan they will be redeemed in the time to come."[2] In fact the prophet Jeremiah tells us that the second exodus will be so great that it will overshadow the first.[3]
Jews who celebrate the meal of Messiah on the last day of Passover connect the coming of Messiah with the haftarah portions that are read at the end of Passover. The reading from Isaiah 10:32-12:6 is loaded with prophecies that reveal the Messiah and the Messianic Age. For example it contains the famous prophecies like "there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit" (Isaiah 11:1), as well as the Messianic foreshadowing, "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb" (Isaiah 11:6) and "He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12). These prophecies fuel the Messianic expectation of the final day of Passover. The Lubavitcher Rebbe stated, "The last day of Passover is the disclosure of Messiah."[4] Chassidim believe that God grants revelations about Messiah on the last day.
Physical Connection
The Baal Shem Tov sought to draw a physical connection between the anticipation of Messiah's coming and the last day of Passover through the ritual of eating matzah at his Meal of Messiah.
By instituting Moshiach's Seudah, the Baal Shem Tov added a new dimension. Moshiach is appreciated not only in speech and in Torah, but also connected with physical activity, assimilated into our system, becoming part of our flesh and blood.[5]
Moreover, the food from Moshiach's seudah becomes part of our flesh and blood, and our faith in, and yearning for Moshiach permeates not just the soul's faculties but also the physical body.[6]
Chassidim who keep the custom of celebrating the Meal of Messiah on the last day believe that by eating the matzah and drinking the wine, they are connecting with Messiah in both a tangible and spiritual way. God created us with our five senses, and he desires to bind us to him through our senses. To me, the parallels between this concept and the Master's words at his last seder are astounding. It brings to my mind the Master's words of "Take, eat; this is my body" and "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood."[7] Chassidim actually believe that when matzah is eaten at Passover that "we are eating G-dliness."[8] In fact:
Through eating at the time of ... Moshiach's Seudah we connect them with the physical world. In this manner, we create "a dwelling place" for G-d on the material plane.[9]
Some Chassidic sources say that participation in the Meal of Messiah causes the person to carry the light of Messiah within him throughout the rest of the year and thus it infuses every action of his day. It foreshadows the Messianic Era when all mankind will be saturated with Godliness. Through this feast, the Chassid hopes that he has connected with the very soul of Messiah.
Keep reading: What is the Meal of Messiah? Part 3.
[1] Likkutei Sichos 22:34 (Translation from Yosef HaLevi Loebenstein, Days of Destiny: The Jewish Year Under a Chassidic Microscope [Brooklyn, NY: Sichos in English, 1998], 170).
[2] b.Rosh HaShannah 11a.
[3] Jeremiah 16:14-15, 23:7-8.
[4] Sefer HaSichot 5704, 107 (Translation as found in Elliot R. Wolfson, Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson [New York: Columbia University Press, 2009], 201).
[5] Schneerson, Sichos in English, 3:20.
[6] Days of Destiny, 174-175.
[7] Matthew 26:26-28.
[8] Schneerson, Sichos in English, 3:20.
[9] Ibid., 3:22-23.
Passover is one of my favorite times of year. It is a time of new beginnings and rebirth. It's a time to do a spiritual house-cleaning and remove the leaven that has formed in our hearts over time. The highlight of Passover, of course, is the seder meal on the first night. So much preparation is done for that single special event that the rest of the week of Passover receives little attention. The remaining days feel like a letdown--like we have climbed the mountain and are now coasting down till it is completed--just waiting until we can put the matzah away and eat bagels again. That's how it was in my house before we discovered the beautiful tradition of celebrating the last day of Passover with the Meal of Messiah.
It Starts at the Seder
The seder meal on the first night of the festival is supposed to be the beginning of our annual Passover experience, not the end of it. For believers, the seder remembers Yeshua's last seder with his disciples. It reminds us to long and to hope for the final redemption that will be realized in the future--a time when Messiah will return and bring full restoration to his people. We find that sense of anticipation in the words of our Master at the Last Seder. He told his disciples at the beginning of the Passover week:
I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. (Luke 22:15-16)
Some day in the future, we will recline at a seder meal with the resurrected Yeshua. Therefore, the first night of Passover should be just the beginning of our joy. Ahead of us is the remembrance of the resurrection of the Master which took place during the seven days of Passover. Each day of the living hope that is the resurrected Messiah should be more electrifying than the one before.
In Chassidic thought, the seder night is just the beginning of a spiritual high that keeps on growing until we reach the pinnacle experience of the last day. The last day of Passover is the big day.
The Last Day
In Hebrew, the seventh day of the feast of Unleavened Bread is called Acharon Shel Pesach (אחרון של פסח), which means "The Last [Day] of Passover." Like the first day of the festival, the last day is also a high Sabbath:
On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. (Exodus 12:16)
In traditional Judaism, Diaspora Jews double each of the high Sabbaths, so for most Orthodox Jews living outside of Israel, the last day of Passover is two days long--a seventh day and an eighth day. Like many other Messianic Jews, my family follows the Israeli reckoning of the calendar, so our last day of Passover is always the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.
We find allusion to the importance of this last day in Torah. In Deuteronomy 16:8 we read, "On the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it." The other festivals in the Torah are called "a solemn assembly to you." Only the last day of Passover is referred to as "a solemn assembly to the LORD."[1]
Why is the last day so special? Jewish tradition observes it as the anniversary of the crossing of the Red Sea. The Torah reading for that day contains the story of the crossing of the sea and the song at the sea. Although the entire Festival of Passover is known as "The Time of our Freedom," the Israelites did not realize absolute freedom until the last day. Pharaoh still held his psychological grip on the minds of the Israelites. Even though it had been seven days since they left Egypt, they were still terrified when they realized that they were trapped between his army and the sea. They cried out to Moses:
Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians"? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. (Exodus 14:11-12)
Israel did not reach true and final freedom until the Father revealed his mighty power, split the sea, rescued his people, and drowned the Egyptians. What an amazing sight that would have been to see. At the sea, the average Israelite reached a revelation and spiritual peak that the greatest of the prophets never obtained. The sages tell us that the common Israelite "maidservant saw at the splitting of the sea what Isaiah and Ezekiel and all the prophets never saw."[2] It reminds us of when the Master told his disciples:
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:16-17)
When seen from the perspective of the crossing of the Red Sea, the last day of Passover becomes the spiritual goal of the entire festival. For believers, the crossing of the Red Sea is paralleled by the joy of the resurrection and the great hope of the second coming of our Master. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe stated in one of his talks on the last day of Passover, "The ultimate [Passover] leap forward will be realized with the coming of Moshiach."[3]
Keep reading: What is the Meal of Messiah? Part 2.
[1] Cf. b.Pesachim 68b.
[2] Mekhilta on Exodus 15:2 [Lauterbach].
[3] Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Sichos in English: Excerpts of Sichos Delivered by Rabbi Menachem M. Shcneerson (51 vols.; Brooklyn, NY: Sichos in English, 1979), 44:236.
When we first discussed publishing these resources at our annual staff meeting in December of 2009, we had no idea that they would come out looking so beautiful. Our graphic design team here at First Fruits of Zion has really outdone themselves. It is truly an honor for us to be producing two resources that we believe, with God's help, will bring depth and beauty to Yeshua-centered Passovers for generations to come.
Vine of David Haggadah
The Vine of David Haggadah is a new translation of the traditional Haggadah, containing the complete traditional seder in both English and Hebrew. We feel it balances the best of both worlds by respecting the customs and history of Israel, taking seriously the explicit commandment in the Torah to teach our children about the redemption from Egypt and the commandment of the Master to keep the festival in remembrance of him. Throughout the traditional seder text, Messianic passages have been seamlessly interwoven to create a truly authentic feeling Messianic Haggadah. It has already been receiving great reviews throughout the Messianic community. Read a review here: Vine of David Haggadah Review
Vine of David Meal of Messiah
The Vine of David Meal of Messiah is seder of sorts that takes place on the last day of Passover. It is a rehearsal dinner for the great Messianic wedding banquet in the future. Yeshua told his disciples that they would recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that he himself would again drink the fruit of the vine with them. The Meal of Messiah celebrates both the resurrection of our Master and the dawning of the Messianic Age. It includes songs, Scriptural readings, and inspiring passages from both rabbinic literature and the early church fathers. Together both the Vine of David Haggadah and Meal of Messiah provide the bookends for a powerful and meaningful Passover experience.
Pricing:
Vine of David Passover Haggadah
1 - $10.00 | 5+ - $6.00 | 10+ - $5.00 | 50+ - $4.00
Vine of David Meal of Messiah
1 - $10.00 | 5+ - $6.00 | 10+ - $5.00 | 50+ - $4.00
Songs for Meal of Messiah CD
$8.00 each
Passover Combination Pack
(1 Haggadah, 1 Meal of Messiah, 1 Songs of Meal of Messiah CD)
Special pricing, see our online Store.
These prices are subject to change without further notification. Please visit our online Store in early March for the latest prices and availability.
Call and pre-order now (1-800-775-4807). Shipping will only commence in the 2nd week of March, in time for delivery before Passover.
The Vine of David Haggadah is a guide to the Passover seder for disciples of Yeshua. This book sets a new standard for Messianic Haggadot, both in terms of production quality and content.
Because of these unique features, it will be able to fulfill a special role for the Messianic Jewish community:
The Haggadah's companion, The Vine of David Meal of Messiah, is a resource like no other. On the final day of Passover, which commemorates the crossing of the Red Sea, Chassidic Jews have a custom to end the season of redemption with an additional, less formal seder. Called Se'udat Mashiach, this event focuses on the ultimate redemption and the messianic banquet that will take place in the future.
This is a completely unique Messianic resource that provides an intensely meaningful and genuine experience, whetting the appetites of those who long for the day of his coming.
Passover reminds us of our duty to pass on our heritage—both the heritage of Torah and Yeshua—to the next generation. This can only be done by providing a meaningful and authentic experience that leaves an enduring impression in the minds, hearts, and souls of our children. By enabling us to accomplish this task, these new Vine of David resources are of great value.
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri (born in 1898 in Baghdad) was a Sephardic Orthodox rabbi and Jewish mystic. As a Torah prodigy Kaduri began his studies in Jewish mysticism while still in his teens. His studies were conducted under the famed Sephardic Rabbi, Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, the Ben Ish Chai.
Having moved to Israel in 1922, Kaduri's life was characterized by poverty as well as privacy and secrecy. Although Kaduri wrote several works, he never sought their publication and limited their dissemination only to students of Jewish mysticism.
Probably the most well known event in the life of Rabbi Kaduri occurred towards the end of his life which resulted in an encounter with the Messiah. A brief description of the events surrounding this occurrence will suffice.
In a meeting in 1990 with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Rebbe of Lubavitch, many words of blessing were spoken to Kaduri. Among the words spoken by the Lubavitcher Rebbe was the blessing that Kaduri would not pass from this world until he met the Messiah. This came to pass in a mystical vision on 9 Cheshvan 5764 (4 November 2003) when Kaduri spoke with the Messiah; during this encounter, the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri. Kaduri later noted to his disciples that the revealed name of the Messiah was hidden among his writings.
Kaduri's disciples came across a note written by Kaduri in which was encrypted the name of the Messiah. This note contained instructions saying that it was not to be opened until a year after Kaduri's passing. After a year passed, Kaduri's disciples opened the note and discovered the name the Messiah revealed to Kaduri: Yehoshua (the Hebrew form of the Aramaic Yeshua). Here is an English translation of the note done by an Orthodox Rabbi:
Regarding the acronym of Moshiach. The masses will themselves arise and verify that his words and his teachings can stand. With my signature in the Month of Mercy (Elul - Edit.) 5765, Yitzchak Kaduri.
The initial Hebrew letters of the phrase "The masses will themselves arise and verify that his words and his teachings can stand" spell out Yehoshua. Although the note was deemed by some as a forgery others stated that it was indeed written by Kaduri. Most of the controversy surrounding the note revolved around the revealed name--that of the Master Yeshua.
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri passed on 29 Tevet 5766 (26 January 2006) at the age of 108. His funeral procession was one of the largest in attendance in the modern history of Israel.
An article on Rabbi Kaduri that explores his life as well as what he believed the Messiah revealed to him can be found in Messiah Journal 100.
]]>After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:66-69)
Ever since that conference, we have intended to return to the task of answering anti-missionary dogma and defending the true, Jewish Yeshua of Nazareth. Towards that end, we launched the Vine of David ministry, a venture charged with translating into English the work of early Messianic Jewish pioneers and apologists. One such writer is Rabbi Yechiel Tzvi Lichtenstein.
In the late nineteenth century, Rabbi Yechiel Tzvi Lichtenstein (Ritzl), a Chassidic disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth and a towering, luminous intellect, threw down a gauntlet challenging the anti-missionaries of his day by writing a book answering the anti-missionary literature circulating in nineteenth century Europe. The first paragraph of the introduction to his book Strengthening True Faith reads as follows:
Those who deny the Messiah of the God of Jacob, who is Yeshua the Messiah, Son of God, would use all their subversive power to mislead people with their lies, because they are of the father of the lie. Therefore they would multiply responsa and arguments to confuse their thinking and to blind the eyes of reason in order for them to fall into their destructive nets.
Lichtenstein caustically characterized anti-missionaries as sons "of the father of the lie," i.e. sons of the Devil. To modern ears with modern sensitivities, such language sounds unnecessarily harsh, but Rabbi Lichtenstein must be understood in his own nineteenth-century, Jewish context, locked into a battle for souls. The same battle rages on today within the Messianic Movement. We all know brothers and sisters who have "jumped ship," so to speak, breaking families, relationships, communities, and hearts. Today anti-missionary propaganda is more ubiquitous than ever before. More than ever, they "multiply response and arguments" and trap people in "their destructive nets."
Further on in the introduction to Strengthening True Faith, Lichtenstein writes:
Blessed be Hashem, the God of Israel, for he has stirred my spirit by his mercy, and his righteousness has sustained me to avenge his name and his Messiah and to take the offensive against the skeptics and those driving others away from the truth, as well as to demonstrate to our brethren, the children of Israel, and to all peoples, that the words of the books of the New Testament were rightly spoken in their entirety, that there is in them no perversion or distortion, and that all the words of the prophets support their truth.
By his mercy, Hashem has stirred us too. In the same spirit, Vine of David is carrying on the task of answering anti-missionary propaganda in our To Whom Shall We Go teaching series. Follow our progress at vineofdavid.org as we bring solid answers and compelling proofs defending faith in Yeshua of Nazareth. Unlike most Christian apologists, we bring answers from a pro-Torah, Messianic Jewish perspective. In addition, we will bring the words and wisdom of the great pioneers of Messianic Judaism to bear on these critical questions.
Some of the most common anti-missionary arguments typically posed to believers are answered in our Audio CD teaching series To Whom Shall We Go.
Order each volume separately or as a complete set.
Click here to order the CD's.
Rabbi Lichtenstein concludes the introduction to Strengthening True Faith with the following words. We echo his sentiments:
And now esteemed reader, what do I ask of you? To read this book of mine with an upright heart seeking truth and eager to do what is right. May Hashem in his compassion and great mercy open your eyes that you may turn and seek Hashem our God and David your king. Then will Hashem also make his face to shine upon you and give you peace by the hand of the Prince of Peace, who is Yeshua the Messiah, our Master and our king forever.
Rabbi Daniel Zion: Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria During WWII
by Joseph Shulam
With the beginning of World War II, problems began for Jews everywhere. In Bulgaria between 1941 and 1942, a series of laws and edicts came down upon the Jews. It became obvious that these developments were preparing for the extermination of Bulgarian Jews. In 1943, the Jewish community of Bulgaria stood at the edge of hell. Under German pressure, the government of Bulgaria decided to force the Jews out of Bulgaria. On May 23, 1943, Rabbi Daniel gathered all the Jews in the central synagogue of Sofia, the second-largest synagogue in all Europe. Every Jew in the city came to the synagogue to pray for the evil decision to be reversed. Rabbi Daniel said publicly to all the community, "It is better for us to die here than in Poland." When the Jews came out of the synagogue, the police attacked the multitude with truncheons and arrested about 250 men. The people continued to march toward the holy synod and demanded to see the Metropolite Stephen, head of the Orthodox church, who was respected by the Jewish community because of his friendly attitude toward them.
Stephen promised the Jewish community that he would meet with the king and the ministers and attempt to change their minds, asking them to stop the persecution of the Jews. However, on May 25, 1943, the expulsion of the Jews from Sofia began.The Commission for Jewish affairs took 10,153 Jews from Sofia into the provincial cities and 3,500 men into labor camps. Only 2,300 Jews remained in Sofia. The Orthodox Church in Bulgaria was one of the main reasons the Bulgarian government did not send the Jews to Auschwitz. The church continued to intercede with the king and the rest of the cabinet for the Jews.
The Orthodox Church of Bulgaria was so amicable to the Jews because of the special relationship that the Metropolite Stephen and Rabbi Daniel Zion shared with each other.
A Vision of the Messiah
In the early 1930s Rabbi Daniel was invited to visit a teacher named Dunnov, who mixed mysticism and Christianity. Rabbi Daniel was so impressed with Dunnov's lifestyle that he started to implement some of his teachings. This included vegetarianism, morning prayer with the sunrise and daily physical exercise. Dunnov spoke of Jesus as the Messiah while stressing the simple lifestyle of Jesus' early disciples. These subjects were eye openers for Rabbi Daniel and got him to think about Yeshua.
According to Rabbi Daniel, his major life change came as he was praying and looking at the sunrise, and a vision of a man appeared. The figure was scintillating right out from the sun. Not understanding the vision, Daniel sought the council of other rabbis; however, they were unable to help him. After the third time the vision appeared, Rabbi Daniel turned toward the figure and spoke to him. He identified himself as Yeshua. Although it seemed strange for an Orthodox rabbi to receive a vision of Yeshua, Rabbi Daniel recalled the dictum "Receive the truth by whomever it might come."
There was something special and unique in this person who appeared to him, and Rabbi Daniel was forced to try to understand what God was positioning before him. Daniel went to the patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Sofia, where he befriended the Metropolite Archimandrite Stephen. He developed a close relationship with Stephen, and they had a frank exchange of ideas on a variety of spiritual subjects, including Jesus and the early church. The patriarch, who was well versed in the delicate relationship between Jews and Christians, encouraged the rabbi to forget about Christianity and concentrate on Yeshua Himself.
Rabbi Daniel started meeting with a group of Jewish people to study the Apostolic Writings each Shabbat afternoon in his home. Among them were some of the leading members of the Jewish community in Sofia.
Rabbi Daniel's faith in Yeshua the Messiah became a well-known secret in Bulgaria's Jewish community. However, his position was so honored and his services so highly esteemed that none of the Jewish functionaries in Sofia could openly criticize the rabbi. Because he remained within the framework of Orthodox Judaism, there was little that his opponents could point to as heresy. However, the leadership of the Jewish community began to isolate him.
Nazi Persecution
When Nazi Germany occupied Bulgaria without firing one shot, Rabbi Daniel, as the spiritual leader of the Jewish community, became the object of Nazi persecution and ridicule. On several occasions, he was publicly flogged in front of the Great Synagogue of Sofia. During these times of persecution, Rabbi Daniel walked upright before the fascists, and his only reaction was to call upon God.
My own mother and sister were present on at least two of these occasions, and they retold the story of his public flogging and defiance many times. Even years later, recalling these experiences made them proud to be Jews.
When there was talk of shipping the Jews to Germany, Rabbi Daniel--with the help of his secretary, A.A. Anski--wrote a letter to the king of Bulgaria. In this letter Rabbi Daniel begged the king in the name of Yeshua not to allow the Jews to be taken out of Bulgaria. Daniel told the king that Yeshua had appeared to him in a vision with a warning for the king not to deliver the Jews to the Nazis.
After waiting many hours at the door of the king's palace in Sofia, the rabbi and his secretary were able to deliver this letter to the king's secretary. The next day, the king went to Germany for a meeting with the Nazi government and Hitler himself. At that meeting, King Boris of Bulgaria stood his ground and did not submit to the Nazi pressure to deliver the Jews from Bulgaria to the death camps of Poland and Germany.
Here are words from Rabbi Daniel's sermon on the Shabbat after he delivered the letter:
Fear not, my dear brothers and sisters! Put your faith in the Holy Rock of our Salvation. ... I have been informed that the Metropolite Stephen has agreed to see me immediately and discuss his conversation with the King of Bulgaria. When I went to see the Metropolite Stephen, he told me, "Tell your people that the King has promised that the Bulgarian Jews will not leave outside the boarders of Bulgaria." ... I explained to the Metropolite that thousands of Jews are waiting for me in the Synagogue to hear this good news. When I returned to the Synagogue, there was full silence in the large crowed that was gathered waiting to hear the results of my meeting with Stephen. As I walked in my announcement was, "Yes, my brothers, God has heard our prayers."
Immigration to Israel
On the ninth of September, 1944, the fascist government of Bulgaria fell to the Communists, under the patronage of Russia. Rabbi Daniel Zion remained the leader and the chief rabbi of Bulgaria until 1949, when he, with most of the Bulgarian Jewish community, emigrated to Israel.
In Israel, Rabbi Daniel was accepted as the rabbi of the Bulgarian Jews. In 1954, Rabbi Samuel Toledano became the Chief Rabbi of Israel and invited Rabbi Daniel to be a judge in the rabbinical court of Jerusalem. When rumors started to fly that Rabbi Daniel believed in Yeshua, Rabbi Toledano invited Daniel to his office and asked him about these rumors. Rabbi Daniel explained to Toledano that while he accepted Yeshua as the Messiah, he did not accept Christianity as the true expression of the teaching and person of Yeshua the Messiah. Rabbi Toledano told him that he could accept this perspective as long as Rabbi Daniel kept it to himself. When Rabbi Daniel refused, Toledano took him to the rabbinic court for the other rabbis to decide what should be done.
In the court, evidence against Rabbi Zion was presented from four books that he had written about Yeshua. The right to speak was then given to Rabbi Daniel. In his own defense he stated:
I am poor and feeble, persecuted and vulnerable, Yeshua conquered me, and with the New Man he honored me, He delivered me from the poverty-stricken self with his great love, he cherished me.
Every day the canny devil aspires to grab my faith, I hold on to my encourager, and chase the devil away. I stand here alone in my faith, the whole world is against me. I give up all the earthly honor for the sake of the Messiah my mate.
The rabbinical court decided to strip him of his rabbinical title, but the Bulgarian Jews continued to honor Daniel as their rabbi. Daniel officiated in his synagogue on Yeffet Street in the heart of Jaffa until October 6, 1973. Although he did not often speak of Yeshua openly during his synagogue teachings, many times he cited stories and parables from the Apostolic Writings.
Each Sabbath, after the synagogue service, he brought a group of his fellow worshippers into his home for a study from the Apostolic Writings. These studies lasted all afternoon, until the time came for evening prayers.
A True Disciple
Many missions, missionaries and Christian societies visited Rabbi Daniel Zion in his Jaffa home. They wrote numerous articles about him, and they occasionally offered him large amounts of money for the use of his name in their ministries. In every case Rabbi Daniel rejected their offers. He did not want to destroy his witness with the people of Israel for a handful of dollars. When he did receive offerings with no strings attached, he accepted them and passed the money to charitable organizations for the blind, or to orphans and widows. He lived in abject poverty; there was nothing of value in his house, and he never locked his home.
In 1979, Rabbi Daniel Zion departed to be with the Lord at the age of ninety-six. Israel's Bulgarian Jewish community gave him full military and state honors. His bier stood in the center of Jaffa with a military guard, and at noon it was carried by men all the way to the Holon Cemetery on foot. He was buried as the Chief Rabbi of Bulgarian Jews who saved them from the Nazi holocaust.
Rabbi Daniel Zion's story is a testimony to us all. He lived a 100 percent Torah lifestyle, and he was a 100 percent follower of the Messiah Yeshua. He did not compromise faith for money, nor did he succumb to the pressures of the chief rabbinate to deny Yeshua. He chose the difficult path, not acquiescing his beliefs in order to fit into the norm. May we learn from his tremendous example.
Copyright © 2008, Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry and Messianic Midrasha. Joseph Shulam is the founder and director of Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry in Jerusalem, Israel. To contact Mr. Shulam, visit www.netivyah.org, or write to Netivyah, PO Box 8043, Jerusalem 91080, Israel, or call +972-2-6231019 or fax +972-2-6249258.
On the other hand, I am greatly looking forward to the renewal of the Torah cycle starting again in B'reisheet. This year, while I will be reading the Torah parasha weekly; however, I will be investing my study time into the Haftarah. Honestly, in past years I have spent the majority of my Shabbat study time has been with Moses--not with the Prophets. I am looking forward to getting to know the other prophets of Israel.
Over the past couple of weeks I have had a deep sense of contentment and joy. I am eager to learn and grow. This morning I was devotionally reading, "Love and the Messianic Age" by P.P. Levertoff. I read the following comment on joy,
The vine is a symbol of Israel, the grapes being individual Israelites. As the wine is hidden in the grapes, so is the joy of the love of God hidden in the soul.
However, as the grapes must be trodden and the skins left behind in the winepress in order that the good wine should gush forth, so does pure, joyous love towards God pour forth from our hearts only when it is trodden out humbly in God's winepress and the skin of our self-righteousness left behind.
Starting Over in Humility
My goal of running 10 miles again will be thwarted by my pride if I refuse to begin by running just one mile. My goal of learning and growing in the Lord will be thwarted if I do not humbly approach His Word again with a heart to change. Levertoff continues,
Self-righteousness is idolatry and prolongs the exile of Israel and of the Shechinah.
Let us all rejoice in the times that we have to start over. Let us take advantage of these times of renewal and be refreshed in our love and devotion to the Lord and to fellow man. May we all work to the end of the exile and the return of the Shechinah.
In closing let me present the commentary on this section from the Love and the Messianic Age commentary,
In his analogy, Levertoff compares Israel to a vine and the individual members of Israel to grapes on the vine. He compares the wine within the grapes to the "joy of the love of God hidden in the soul." Just as salt without saltiness is worthless and just as one does not "light a lamp and put it under a basket," neither is wine left within the skin of the grapes of any use to anyone. "The grapes must be trodden and the skins left behind in the winepress in order that the good wine should gush forth; so does pure joyous love towards God pour forth from our hearts only when it is trodden out humbly in God's winepress and the skin of our self-righteousness left behind." The good wine found within our hearts can only pour forth through the result of tribulations sent to us by God in order to strengthen our true self. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong." Also, if one suffers "as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name." "Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."
May God be praised and may we all be strengthened and renewed.
Shabbat Shalom.
Boaz Michael
28th of Tishrei, 5770
Ref: P.P. Levertoff, Love and the Messianic, (C)2009 Vine of David.
Perhaps, though, the most exciting part of Mishkan Issue #60 is that the majority of the articles are dedicated to nineteenth-century Jewish believer Theophilus Lucky, one of the nineteenth century Jewish believers that First Fruits of Zion and Vine of David have been translating and publishing. The new issue of Mishkan contains over 60 pages of articles detailing his life and some of the controversies surrounding him. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this issue from their store as well as to subscribe to Mishkan. Mishkan is always full of great information and scholarship for today's Messianic movement. Here's a link to their site.
We hope that this issue will spark interest in Levertoff and Theophilus Lucky, two Messianic pioneers whose work we hope to continue publishing in the coming years.
]]>[Chaim Yedidah] Ben Yisrael AKA: Theophilus Lucky (1890) Reprinted from the Edut L'Yisrael, Volume 4, Elul 5650 (1890), pp 91-97. Translated to English, edited and adapted by Vine of David, 2007.
Chaim Yedidah (Theophilus Lucky) became a believer near the end of the nineteenth century at which time he began to publish a Hebrew periodical written by Jewish believers in Yeshua entitled Edut L'Yisrael, "Testimony to Israel: Testifying about the Torah, the manner, and all of the characteristics of the Nation." It was a Zionist publication for Jewish believers in Yeshua and about Jewish believers in Yeshua.
Elul and Repentance
This month is the sixth after the month of the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt. Its name, which the Children of Israel brought up from Babylon, is Elul. The Scriptures call it "the sixth"; only Nehemiah calls it Elul.
The word Elul (אלול) is an acrostic formed of four Hebrew words from Song of Songs combined together in this way: ani ledodi vedodi li (אני לדודי ודודי לי), "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" (Song of Songs 6:3). How appropriate are these words! So it is, for the days of the month of Elul are days of repentance. They are days of compassion and grace, days of love, days of intimacy--so say many early and late sages and scribes (of blessed memory) in their books. If we repent, the Holy One, blessed is He, satiates us with grace. If a man declares, "I am my beloved's," it is certain that [God] will likewise respond, "and my beloved is mine."
Before the High Holidays, it is the duty of every son of Israel to awaken himself and to look around himself and to make an accounting of himself. How good is the counsel of the Sages! For there is nothing in this world as good as repentance. Please turn, O Israel, please turn to the LORD, your God. Indeed, a voice is calling to you from above. The gates of repentance are forever open.
The words of Rabbi Eliezer produce a good fragrance like a bundle of spices. His disciples once asked him, "How shall we do repentance and live?" Rabbi Eliezer answered and said, "the LORD will answer on the day of trouble [Psalm 20:1], as it is said [in Song of Songs 5:4], "My beloved sent out his hand through the opening, and my feelings were aroused for him." So too, the LORD stretches out His hand to us and awakens us during the season--the season of intimacy--so that we will repent and live. So said the holy Yochanan, "God is love, and we love Him, for He first loved us" (1 John 4:8, 19). The LORD declares, "Return to Me, and I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7).
Even if our iniquities have gone above our heads and our guilt has grown as high as heaven, the Holy One, blessed be He, declares, "Do not fear. Even if [your sins] are up to the firmament, if you repent, I will forgive. If you repent, I will receive you not only [into the lower levels of heaven] but even up to the throne of glory." The final redemption of Israel is dependent upon nothing if not on repentance. "All that I want from you," says the Holy One, blessed be He, "is that you would but seek me and live."
The Shofar in the Month of Elul
The shofar is blown daily throughout the month of Elul to alert our hearts to repent, for the Day of the LORD is near. The first day of the month of Elul has come. The sound of the elegies and wailing which we heard on the Ninth of Av still echoes in our ears. Our heart is still not quieted from all the troubles which our eyes read in the books of Lamentations on that day. And behold, we still have sorrow; still our hearts are broken; fright and terror are still before our eyes.
Behold, the first day of the month of Elul has arrived with fanfare and noise, and it reminds us that it will not be many days until the "day of judgment" will have come. The custom of Israel in the lands of the dispersion is to sound the shofar every single weekday from the first of the month until it is ended. Those who are very devout and pious also sit in fasting for many days during this month. A tradition from the mouth of the Sages has it that on the first day of Elul, Moses was about to ascend Mount Sinai a second time, after having broken the first tablets. The LORD told Moses to sound a shofar across the entire camp to proclaim and announce that he was ascending the mountain a second time, lest they go astray again and make a molten calf as they did the first time. And Moses did so.
Therefore we also blast the shofar every first day of Elul and we continue to do so for 40 days. We blow the shofar each day until the tenth of the seventh month has ended [i.e. Yom Kippur] because Moses descended from Sinai the second time on the tenth of the month of Tishrei.
Just as the children of Israel were sitting in fasting and affliction [repenting and awaiting Moses' return], so too many now sit in fasting and affliction several days during this month. If it was not that our generation is weak in strength many would sit in fasting for all forty days.
The Days of Ninevah and the Captive Woman
The days of repentance are like the days of Ninevah. "Another forty days and Nineveh will be overturned," Jonah proclaimed. But they believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast, and they clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes--from the greatest of them to the least of them. God saw and consoled them. He withheld the calamity that He had said that He would do to them.
The Sages also appointed forty days of repentance. Thirty days to prepare the soul, to search out his ways and to awaken the heart, and ten days to do true repentance. These are the ten days from the Day of Judgment [Rosh Hashanah] until the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] and forgiveness.
The soul can be compared to the captive woman described in Deuteronomy 21. Just as the woman taken captive in battle is given a month to mourn for her father and mother, so to the soul is given a month of days for weeping--the month of Elul. That is why a man weeps and supplicates before the LORD all the days of this month. He blows the shofar each evening and morning to startle his heart and to awaken himself to do something so that he may escape the coming wrath.
Awakening the Soul
When giving the reason for the commandment to blow the shofar, Rambam [Maimonides the medieval codifier of Jewish law] said that the sound is meant to be a warning to the heart. The sound of blasting that goes out from the shofar is a voice. The voice speaks to the man who hurries down the wide way that leads to Sheol and Abaddon. It says, "Stand still for a moment and consider your deeds, for the day of judgment that none can withstand is near." It is the voice that wakes up the sinner from the coma of sin.
Behold! The heart of the man does not find rest until he rests in the LORD. He does not find rest until he knows that he has passed from death to life, and that the LORD has forgiven all of his sins. Long ago in Israel, when we were still upon our soil and the Temple was in its place, we were bringing near burnt offering and sacrifice. Now the House [of God] is destroyed and the place of the altar is a desolate hill. Burnt offering has ceased, and there is no sacrifice to bring near. There is no sweet savor for the LORD. Now there is fasting and affliction in the place of sacrifice, and prayer and supplication as a substitute for burnt offering. Therefore we weep and lament on this month according to the counsel of our great ones, the luminaries of our eyes.
Why Are We Still in Exile?
But why will the LORD not turn to our cry right now? Surely there are in our generations many of our Jewish brethren absorbed in fasting and prayer. Every day we hear the sound of the shofar going forth, and the alarm in our hearts increases each day. We lift our eyes to the LORD. Why does He turn His back toward us even now?
While Israel was still living in its land, the women returned through the opening of the gate of the House of the LORD, and they committed an abomination, weeping over Tammuz. But now the Jewish brethren are zealous for the Torah of the LORD and for His service, and they draw their souls near to sanctify the Name of the LORD. Throughout this month, the month of love and the days of intimacy, we offer many prayers before the LORD, and yet the wrath of the LORD has not turned away. We are still in exile, and our soil is given over to strangers. Why has all this come upon us? - Still the voice of the Jewish brethren is in my ears, the voice of weeping with which we have wept together. I have longed for and I have desired consolation. I have longed to hear the words of the bringer-of-good-news declare, "Awaken yourself to greet your beloved, and lift yourself up from the ground and return to your dwelling place."
Every single year we rise early in the month of Elul and call out, "Please seek out those who seek you ... Please awaken your dormant love, the love for the innumerable congregation."
At midnight we arise to thank and praise the LORD and to confess before Him our iniquities, for they are many. Groaning and moaning proceed from our hearts, a heart of grief over the wickedness of our actions. ... We pour out our hearts like water and cry out, "We have no merit to appease You, my master! Act for the sake of your covenant, which you made with our fathers, for upon your abundant compassion we trust."
Yet despite our prayers, we are still as we have been. Why?
The Missing Key to Repentance
The words of [Rabbi] Tanchuma will teach us, "Anyone who wants to do repentance for himself must look upon the son of David, who is the ruler and governor of the peoples, for the LORD said 'Behold, I have appointed him as a witness to the peoples' (Isaiah 55:4). When the Holy One, blessed is He, created repentance, he shone a light from Him and it was a light gleaming from one end of the universe to the opposite end. This light is a true light that comes into the world to illuminate every man, it is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. If only the Jewish brethren had chosen this light and not rejected it! To them this light went out and it dwelled among us."
By means of repentance, which is compared to water, as it says [in Lamentations 2:19], "Pour out your heart like water," the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the water draws itself near and comes. And the Spirit of God that hovered over the waters is "the Spirit of Messiah, of which it is said [in Isaiah 11:2], 'And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him,'" says the Midrash. I will take these words to heart. And may all the Jewish brethren listen to these words of the Midrash. May we return, and may we give our hearts to the LORD in repentance, because His right arm is outstretched to receive penitents.
My brother! Will all our weeping be in vain? Will we grow weary for nothing and give birth to panic? The LORD is righteous, loving righteous deeds and there is no end to His compassion. That which He promised He will do, and He will surely show compassion as He said. For the LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him IN TRUTH (Psalm 145:18). Please, my beloved and pleasant brothers, have pity upon your days and upon your nights. "Redeem the time!" (Ephesians 5:6). Behold! Our beloved sends his hand through the opening. The days of repentance are days of intimacy and grace. May we also cry out, "I am my beloved's." May we take the Word of the LORD as a lamp for our feet; may we walk in The Way and The Truth and The Life and then our salvation will come quickly.
Elul
I am my beloved's and my beloved's is mine.
"My beloved sent his hand through the opening and aroused my feelings for him." (Song of Songs 5:4)
"I have sought you, I have called to you, my beloved
And my feelings were aroused for you
And you will come and you will lift my glory
And I will not fail you."
"My brothers also will see you
And they will lift their eyes up to the heavens
And they will see you upon the throne of your glory
And their feelings for you will be aroused."
"Behold, I am my beloved's,"
The people of Israel will say,
"He is my majesty and glory.
And through His covenant-devotion
I will be redeemed from trouble."
And our Master will answer us from the heights,
"I have chosen you, O Israel.
If your feelings are aroused for me
I will come to you and you will be redeemed."
Ben Yisrael.
]]>משנכנס אב, ממעטין בשמחה.
"When Av begins, we decrease our joy." -- b.Taanit 29b.
Rosh Chodesh Av (the first day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar) marks the beginning an intensified period of mourning as we draw closer to the date that the Temple was destroyed.
Rosh Chodesh Av, which begins this year on Tuesday evening, July 21, is also the yahrzeit of Dr. Paul Philip Levertoff, a pioneer in the Messianic Jewish movement.
Excerpt from Love and the Messianic Age:
In 1887 a nine-year-old Chasidic Jew named Feivel Levertoff was trudging home from the cheder (a Jewish day school) when a discarded scrap of paper caught his eye. It was printed with Hebrew text. Supposing it was a leaf from a prayer book or other sacred volume, Feivel picked it out of the snow.
He quickly read the piece of paper. It was a page from a book he had never read before. It told the story of a boy like himself--not much older either--whose parents found him in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, expounding the Scriptures and learning with the great sages of antiquity.
When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. (Luke 2:45-47, NASB).
True to his prestigious family ancestry, nine-year-old Feivel was already showing signs of becoming a great scholar when he found the scrap from the Gospel of Luke. That explains why he was so intrigued by the mysterious page from the forbidden book.
Some time later Feivel unwittingly came across another Gospel passage--this time from the book of John. Because of John's rich, mystical content, Feivel assumed the text was a Chasidic discourse. When he realized that he had actually been reading the Gospel of John, his curiosity about Christianity and its forbidden books was heightened.
After bar mitzvah at the age of thirteen, Feivel began his formal education at the prestigious Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania, where he excelled in his studies and graduated early. He was well on his way to becoming a celebrated rabbi.
He continued his learning at a university in the Prussian city of Königsberg. It was there, at the age of seventeen, that he encountered the Gospels again. Outside of his community and far from home, this time he determined to read them through.
The writings led him to a profound and shaking conclusion: Yeshua of Nazareth had indeed been the promised Messiah. From then on, Feivel was the devoted Chasid of Rebbe Yeshua from Nazareth.
For Messianic Judaism of our own day, Feivel Paul Philip Levertoff is a hero of the previous generation, a trailblazer and luminary ahead of his time. The Lord did indeed grant him understanding, knowledge, and wisdom to be an example to his generation, an example to our generation and to the generations that will come after us. Services in Messianic Jewish congregations today are similar to those Levertoff conducted a generation ago. From the time he first came to Messiah to the end of his life, Levertoff understood that the faith practiced by Yeshua and his followers was Judaism. Though he lived in a Christian world, he did not abandon his convictions about Judaism, his Chasidic roots, or his steadfast belief that the Gospels and Apostolic Writings belonged to Judaism.
In the last years of Dr. Levertoff's life, he took a position as the honorary chaplain of the old "Leper Chapel" church in Ilford, England. By spring of 1954, his health was failing, but Levertoff received permission from his doctor to attempt leading the Good Friday and Resurrection services. In Anglican tradition, a Good Friday prayer service and series of teachings is conducted from noon until 3:00 PM called the "Three Hours," commemorating our Master's last three hours on the cross.
Dr. Levertoff led the teaching and liturgy through the first two hours, but just as he was beginning his sermon of the third hour which remembers our Master's death, Levertoff paused in mid-sentence, hesitated, and said, "I am sorry, I must stop for a moment." He slowly descended from the pulpit and sat in the pew below. In the startled silence, everyone in the congregation sank to their knees to pray for their beloved teacher. Dr. Levertoff made a second attempt, but again lost his strength. His congregation gathered in the courtyard to console him and speak words of encouragement as he was escorted from the chapel and into a waiting taxi with his wife.
Dr. Levertoff was hospitalized and eventually released to convalesce at his home in Ilford under the care of his wife Beatrice. As word of his illness spread, concerned Jewish and Christian friends from all over the world began to visit. The Levertoff home received a constant flow of Jews, Gentiles, Christians, and otherwise. His wife Beatrice described her husband's last days:
His thoughts were constantly with heavenly things, the things of earth became of no moment. In delirium he spoke only of spiritual things, of God, of his desire to express adequately his love for God. To everyone who came to see him he soon turned every talk to such matters. At such moments he would rally to such an extent that, even to the last, those who visited him could hardly grasp the frail hold he now had on earthly life. (Church and the Jews, 180, Autumn 1954)
Despite volumes of prayer, his health did not improve, and he suffered for three months. Shortly before his death, he rose from his bed and danced a Chasidic dance. Mrs. Levertoff described his death:
On the 31st of July, in the very early hours, saying to me his last words, which here "Good-bye," he left me to go with glad relief from pain, into the waiting outstretched arms of the Lord he so loved so utterly ... All trace of pain left, and he smiled, serene and sure in a way that convinced all who looked on him that he was not just at peace, resting from his pain, but had attained his heart's desire--to magnify Him as he really would wish ... His great learning was all forgotten in his goodness, his loving-kindness, his wise, good heart. (Church and the Jews, 180, Autumn 1954)
His tombstone says, "An Israelite in whom there is no guile."
Yahrzeit (יאָרצײַט) is a Yiddish word of German origin that means "time of year." It is a term for the anniversary of a person's death. Family members commemorate the yahrzeit of their loved ones by lighting a twenty-four-hour candle and reciting the Kaddish prayer:
May [God's] name be magnified and sanctified in the world that he created as he willed. May he cause his kingdom to reign, and may he cause his deliverance to sprout forth, and may he bring near his messiah during your lives, and during your days, and during the lives of the entire house of Israel, quickly and soon. Now say, Amen.
May his great name be blessed forever and for all eternity. May the name of the Holy One, blessed is he, be blessed, acclaimed, glorified, lifted up, upraised, honored, elevated and praised far above every blessing or song, acclamation or comforting word that is said in the world. Now say, Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and good life for us and for all Israel. Now say, Amen. May the one who makes peace in His heights make peace in his compassion for us and for all Israel. Now say, Amen.
Students, especially in Chasidic circles, often commemorate the yahrzeit of their teacher by gathering together to study his works or to study Torah in honor of his memory. This can often be a celebratory occasion, rather than sorrowful one.
May the memory of Dr. Paul Philip Levertoff, a luminary of the Messianic Jewish movement, serve as a blessing.
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