Posted on 12/05/2004 1:50:21 PM PST by missyme
Jesus is the candle in the middle.
This according to Messianic Jew Francis McGehee who says she is a Jew who believes in Yeshua, also known as Jesus.
McGehee is a Christian and a Jew. She celebrates Hanukkah and not Christmas, keeps a kosher kitchen and studies the Torah.
Four great Menorahs stood at the temple in Jerusalem, McGehee said. The wicks for the lights were made of the discarded underclothes of priests, as were the swaddling cloths of babies.
“They are the lights of the world,” McGehee said. “Jesus stood there and said, ‘I am the light of the world,’ and so they are symbolic of Jesus.”
McGehee said she and others who believe like her come from a Christian background and didn’t feel their lives fulfilled.
“(Messianic Jews) are people that began to read the Bible for themselves,” McGehee said. “They find the old testament is very vital. That’s what Jesus taught from. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. He was born as a Jew, lived as a Jew, died as a Jew and he rose as a Jew.”
Messianic Jews know Jesus was the foretold messiah, McGehee said.
For McGehee and others like her, Hanukkah is a celebrational holiday. Hanukkah is not one of the biblically appointed feasts, she said. Rather, it is the time of a celebration commemorating the rededication of the temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.
“It’s (Hanukkah) the light of our souls we are nourishing on this holiday,” McGehee said. “This is parties and joy over the rededication and freedom over slavery. We celebrate the miracle of the light.”
McGehee said she celebrates Jesus’ birth at Sukkot during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
“Jesus was born when the shepherds were still out in the fields,” McGehee said. “Bethlehem was at High Rolls elevation, there would be not shepherds in the fields at this time.”
As McGehee prepares her home for the holiday, which begins at sundown Tuesday, she cleans her old brass Menorah, lays out her table and her special platter for latkes (potato pancakes) and gets ready to make jelly donuts.
Anything fried in oil is appropriate for a Hanukkah feast, McGehee said. The oil stands for the oil used in the original Temple to keep the holy light burning.
“I live exactly like the Jewish people do except I believe in Yeshua, who is Jesus, which means salvation,” McGehee said.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that begins on the 25th day of the Jewish calendar month of Kislev, which usually falls during the month of December, but occasionally begins during November.
Hanukkah (also commonly spelled “Chanukah”) means “dedication” in Hebrew. The holiday goes back almost 2,400 years, and celebrates one of the greatest miracles in Jewish history, marking the survival of Judaism.
The “Festival of Lights” refers to the legend of a miracle that occurred during the rededication of the Temple. When the Jews sought to rekindle the menorah in the Temple sanctuary (after it was desecrated by the Syrians), they could find only one sanctified jar of oil — marked with the seal of the High Priest. Miraculously, the small portion of oil burned for eight days — the length of time required to purify new oil.
During the eight days of Hanukkah, a candle is lit each night to commemorate the miracle of the oil in the Temple. Nine candles are arranged in a candelabra called a menorah – one for each night, plus the shamash or shammus (meaning servant), the candle used to light the others. Candles are lit from left to right, and the shamash is placed in the middle at a different height.
Families gather at nightfall to rekindle the menorah flames, rededicate themselves to their faith, and share in festive meals. Blessings are sung or recited as the candles are lit.
"Blessed are You, the Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light."
I wonder if the person in question says this blessing that states that the Lord 'commanded us to kindle'? Where in Scripture would she find a command for a holiday instituted by the rabbis?
Just curious...
Great article. I would add that everyone should read the Bible for themselves. That's the ONLY way anyone is going to know exactly what God commands us to do.
Apparently she is taken the holiday and interpeted it in her own way...Hannukkah is not about Jesus but then again I think everything and anything in life is about Jesus :)
I'd be curious to know of a "messianic Jew's" explanation of the second and third of Maimonides' "Thirteen Priciples of the Jewish Faith, namely, God's Unity and God's Incoporeality. Or have they ditched Maimonides too?
Lovely story. The accounts given by Messianic Jews concerning their conversions, are quite inspirational for Christians to read. By examining their apologetics, my faith is strengthened.
McGehee said she celebrates Jesus’ birth at Sukkot during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
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1 posted on 12/05/2004 2:50:21 PM MST by missyme
I also believe Y'shua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.
This would mean that Y'shua was conceived during Chanukah.
I enjoy the metaphor that the "Light of the Universe" entered
and tabernacled among us during the the “Festival of Lights”.
His willing bondslave
chuck
fyi ping
Victory over "Greater Syria" ping.
You don't need to get as far as Maimonides:
Numbers 23:19 "G-d is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
"G-d is not a man..."
That's pretty close to Hertz' "The Pentateuch and Haftorahs", but seems slightly more watered down in Plaut.
As a "ger" who yet believes devoutly in Torah (from a couple years in synagogue...oh, why didn't my mother find that earlier in the search I accompanied her on from one Christian church to another?), I thought to use some of the most effective ammo I knew in challenging this view.
Not that I don't believe that American Christianity will yet save our country. Though I admit to being slightly impatient with this "messianic Jewish" approach.
Yet through Judaism, I've yet come to feel as by Deuteronomy 4:19 and Malachi 1:11, that even the heathen has a place in the world to come, so long as some semblance of "goodness" resides therein.
A universal "kiddush", as it were.
Everything good to you and yours. And Good Shabbos.
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