Several readers have written to ask me if–since I’m Jewish–I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. So I thought I should write a post to explain all those pictures of pies and cakes I bake for my synagogue service every Friday night.
First of all, I’m not Jewish. Not even a little. I’m Scot-Irish, British, and a wee bit of Congolese, according to Ancestry.com. But when I was in high school, I played in a handbell choir led by Rev. Jim Whitmire, who announced one day that our handbell choir was going to play at a Jewish synagogue. “God blesses those who bless the Jewish people,” he said. “So we’re going to play for their service next Friday night.”
We did. I don’t remember much about the service, but that night the Lord awakened a deep love for the Jewish people within me. I bought a Star of David necklace and began to wear it after learning that thanks to the mercy of God, as a believer in Yeshua (Jesus), I had been grafted into the Jew’s olive tree. I was adopted into the family of Promise, the chosen people of God.
I didn’t actually know many Jewish people. I had one Jewish friend at school, but lost contact with her after graduation. But I loved Jewish music, sang along with Jews for Jesus, and started to read the Bible and appreciate the Jewishness of Jesus and the early church.
In college, I was privileged to be able to go to Israel as part of a singing group, and there I walked the land Jesus walked. When I began to write, I interviewed Moshe Rosen, a leader in the Messianic movement, who pointed out a lot of things about Jewish people I’d never noticed. (Ever wonder why there aren’t many Jewish football players? That sort of sport just isn’t common among the Jews.)
I began to read novels by Jewish writers–Chaim Potok is a favorite. I learned a lot about Jewish sects that were completely foreign to me.
And all this time, I was a youth pastor’s wife, laboring by his side in a couple of mega churches, helping him minister to young people. After he was pushed out of his ministry at age 65, he established an independent youth program, and we moved to another neighborhood. For nearly five years, every Friday night he went to his youth activity, and I stayed home, usually working, but I couldn’t help thinking about the Messianic synagogue only a couple of miles away.
I had visited two other Messianic synagogues–one in Philadelphia, where I went with friends to a vibrant service that was almost Pentecostal in its fervor. I loved it, and couldn’t help thinking that it was a preview of heaven, where we will sing and dance around the throne of God. My husband and I went to another messianic synagogue in St. Petersburg that was more like a typical church service. And finally, after watching the online services for several months, I worked up the courage to go to the synagogue near our house.
I sat in the back and watched, listened, and tried to follow along in the siddur (akin to a hymnal). Most of the “songs” were in Hebrew, though the words were spelled out phonetically for anyone to follow along. In the bulletin I read that this synagogue was traditional, and the service was similar to what Yeshua would have experienced.
The Drash (sermon) was in English, thank goodness. But I loved seeing the reverence with which they unrolled the Torah scroll and the rabbi read, in Hebrew, from the text, then translated it into English.
When the final blessing had been given, I slipped out the back door, but the rabbi caught me before I left. He introduced himself, and I gave him an abbreviated version of the story above. While everyone else went to Oneg (the time of fellowship and food), I went home.
But I came back, again and again, and decided that in return for blessing me as they did every week, I would bless them by baking something special–a cake, a pie, cupcakes, or something. Hence the food posts on Facebook.
And then the man who lead sheerim (praise and worship) had open heart surgery. And when he returned, I went over, wished him well, and told him that I’d been a music major once, so if he ever needed help–
He held up a piece of sheet music. “Can you play this?”
Gulp. “Maybe.” Honestly, I hadn’t touched my piano in months, and it had been YEARS since I’d played in public. But I ran through the song quickly, and before I knew it I was playing nearly every service (not because I’m good, but because no one else has volunteered). And just a few weeks before, I’d told the Lord that I really missed music, and would love to exercise that gift again . . .
I don’t attend a synagogue because I write about Jewish events and characters, but hearing the Scriptures from the Jewish point of view has certainly opened my mind and heart to things I had never considered before. And, to be honest, the Jewish people have a lot of writings from rabbis who wrote long after Christ, rabbis whose words were not necessarily God-breathed. So while some of those stories and thoughts are educational and inspirational, others leave me skeptical. (And honestly, I do the same thing in churches.) If those teachings are biblical, I accept them. If extra-biblical, I weigh the teaching carefully . . .
I discovered that I wasn’t the only Gentile in the synagogue. Several of the folks have a Jewish mother or grandmother, and after being raised in church, they’ve come to this synagogue to learn about their Jewish roots. There are LOTS of Gentiles in our synagogue, but the bond of affection is so strong that you can’t tell who’s Jewish and who’s not. And isn’t that the way it should be?
I am delighted that the Lord has led me to this synagogue and these people. They bless me every week, and I hope, in some small way, that I am able to bless them. And with them, I am praying for the peace of Jerusalem.
Have you ever attended a Messianic synagogue? You should search for one in your community and visit! You’ll learn a lot . . . and you don’t have to bring a cake. 🙂
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I haven’t attended a Jewish synogogue before, but now I want to! Thank you for sharing!
You should definitely visit at least once. It’s a wonderful and different experience.
A Messianic congregation meets only two or three miles from my house, and I have thought frequently of visiting. They meet on Saturday and so does my Life Group which complicates things. Still, I hope to get there one day soon.
You should take your life group! :-).
Angela I love that you shared this! I’m not Jewish but Christian and have respect for their culture and history. Did not know of your music background but as a teen I played for our Episcopal Church then off to college and vocal became my interest then switched to art. Twenty five year break I became church pianist when no one was available. I did attend the of a child of one of hub’s employees. It was very interesting.
Yes, I was a voice major, but all music majors have to pass a piano proficiency exam . . . so that’s what I am. Proficient, not skilled. :-). But God can use anyone, no?
This is just lovely. I, too, have a deep love for the Jewish people. I’ve never visited a Messianic synagogue but I think I’ll research and see how close one is to me. I live in a fairly urban area so there must be one nearby. Thanks for this lovely post!
I’m sure you’ll be able to find one. Enjoy your visit! 🙂
Angela, I’ll have to admit this is the first one of your blog posts I’ve read. The title captured me, and I’m so glad I read it. I learned so much about you. After a twenty year military career, my husband retired, and then went on to MANY different jobs. He eventually felt the call to the ministry and became a United Methodist pastor at the age of 61. A man from a messianic synagogue contacted him and asked to speak to our church. He told us about the messianic Jews and their desire to foster a relationship with Christians. It was so interesting to hear about, so I already knew about the messianic Jews, but have not attended one of their synagogues. The pastor of the church we were attending when my husband started his journey, brought in several Jewish people to teach us about our Christian roots. The Methodists have a mandatory retirement age of 72, but a pastor can still be appointed. His church wanted him to continue so he preached for one more year, deciding to retire in 2014 since I was retiring from teaching.
You have brought back so many memories for me. And, what an amazing baker you are! Thank you for this blessing today.
Thank you, Betty, for blessing me! Your story was wonderful to read.
Angela, my longtime Christian girlfriend was married to a Jewish guy (he passed away last year) and to appease her he attended a Messianic synagogue with her to sort of go halfway with each other. I wanted to go too, so I drove from Pasadena, CA to Los Angeles to attend. I loved it and would go every week, but I had my own church (that I worked at during the week). I appreciated their impromptu testimonies and the depth of love for Jesus because of His great love for them, and because of what they had to go through, namely the loss of family members because they accepted Jesus Christ and believed in Him.
Yes–most Jews who have not accepted Jesus refuse to admit that “converted” Jews are still Jewish. I can understand why they fear Yeshua–they worry about losing their “Jewishness,” but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus was Jewish! He IS the promised Messiah! So the Messianic Jews need our support and the other Jews need our prayers–that they would recognize their Messiah. Thank you, Sandra, for supporting them.
I wondered how you started attending Synagogue. I had a friend in Phoenix who was a Messianic Jew and loved talking to her.
I showed interest in visiting Temple and she said it was only for former Jews. “Gentiles would just muck things up.”
I was curious and just wanted to learn.
After moving to Ohio, my Jewish friend’s granddaughter became a Christian. I’ve seen the Temple, but assumed they didn’t want Gentiles.
I have picked up on something that’s unspoken–Messianic Jews don’t want Christians who come and try to do things the way the “church” has always done them. I think that would “muck things up.” They want to maintain their Jewishness and worship as Jesus and their forefathers worshipped. In my experience, Gentile Christians are welcome, but we should not go and expect them to become like US when we have been grafted onto THEIR tree.
I suspect that’s what your friend meant. 🙂
Thanks so much for explaining how you came to worship at the synagogue. I’ve often wondered. Lisa
My pleasure!
Yes! I’ve attended a Jewish synagogue here in Nashville. I loved watching the Torah Tots (what they call the children’s ministry) sitting beneath the Torah and receiving the Word of God. It was such a blessing! I would love to attend again sometime. Thanks for the nudge, my friend! And those cakes. YUM! Remember when we used to have bake-offs? Those were so fun, even if I never won. ; )
Torah tots! Cute! We have ‘Shabbat school’ for the kids. We’re a small congregation, but I like being able to greet nearly everyone by name.