Prayer is essential to a flourishing spiritual life. In the Scripture, the Apostle Paul directs us to “pray constantly” (1 Thess 5:17). What is prayer? For many people, prayer is heartfelt communion with God, sincere “dialogue” with our Maker. This communication commonly takes the form of spontaneous, unscripted speech. But throughout the history of both the Jewish and Christian traditions, there have also been formal, written prayers for the entire community’s use.
One of the most well-loved works from the nineteenth-century English preacher Charles Spurgeon in his devotional, Morning and Evening. For centuries, Anglicans have observed the morning and evening “office” (prayer service). These daily rhythms of prayer didn’t emerge a hundred or even a thousand years ago; their roots go back to the Shema, the foundational Jewish prayer.
How to Read The Torah: Did you know Yeshua’s first act of public ministry included a Torah reading? As described in Luke 4:14-21, Messiah’s ministry kicked off with giving a public reading of the Jewish scriptures! If the Torah reading was central to the worship of Yeshua and His first-century followers, should it not be […]
Why Read The Torah? I was just a teenager when I met Yeshua for the first time. Even after growing up in a devoted Jewish home, I was hungry for more of God. After months of seeking, I had an incredible encounter with Messiah, and from that point on, everything about my faith was different. […]
Why We Light the Hanukkah Menorah Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and celebrates a great miracle G-d performed for our ancestors. After defeating Antiochus Epiphanies, the Jewish people led by the Maccabees cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem of pagan idols and re-lit the Menorah, the seven-branched candelabra. There was only enough oil […]
Learn how to light the Hanukkah Menorah and recite the Hanukkah blessings by listening to this helpful video with step-by-step instructions, and blessings sung by Tracy Thomas. Follow along with the blessings below: Barukh atta Adonai, Elohenu Melekh ha‘olam, asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav vetzivanu le-hadlik ner shel Chanukka. English Translation: Praised are you, Adonai, Our God, […]
