Growing up as a Jewish kid in Montreal, I loved Christmas. Snowy winter lawns were bejeweled at night with twinkling trees. People got tipsy and were nice to each other. What could be bad about all that? And a baby nursed in a Bethlehem stable seemed like friendly ‘family content’. Secular Westerners love the tinsel […]
Category Archives: Feasts
Passover actually happened. It was a real historical event. Real Hebrew slaves, real Egyptian bondage, and real Ten Plagues: “They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the next day after the Passover the sons of Israel started out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while […]
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea – though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride (Psalm 46:1-3) The Jewish people’s history is flecked with tragedy and shakings. Moyshe Rabbenu’s (Moses’) curses of […]
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. Nine burning candles remind us of the amazing victory of the Maccabees, high priestly heroes of the faith and Special Operations Forces of Israel over 2,000 years ago (see https://davidstent.org/maccabees-wanna-bes-and-fake-news-the-real-story-of-hanukkah/). Many of us think of Hanukkah as a kind of Jewish Christmas, with lights, scrumptious food and plenty of […]
Approximately 2,930 years ago, the ten tribes of Israel rebelled against David’s family and dynasty (1 Kings 12:1-19). Led by Jeroboam ben Nevat (1 Kings 11:26-40), a special forces commander, 84% of the Jewish people rejected YHVH’s chosen and anointed king. The Bible lets us in on the secrets of Jeroboam’s heart: Jeroboam said in […]
Today is the Day of Pentecost (Greek for ‘fiftieth’). The original Hebrew name is Shavuot (‘weeks’), referring to the waiting period between Passover and Pentecost – seven weeks of seven days each, culminating in the holiday on the fiftieth day (Leviticus 23:15-21). My Polish Jewish grandfather used to say, “A goat may have a beard, […]