Today (October
3, 2014) at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is
by far the most widely observed of Jewish holidays and fast days. Synagogues
are packed with families in Israel, as well as throughout the diaspora. It has been
the most important Jewish holiday throughout the centuries, going back into the
Second Temple Period -- the times of the
Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes and the Jesus Movement. A good way for
Christians to understand its importance is to compare it to what Easter means
to Christians. In this article I am going to focus on Yom Kippur during the
Late Second Temple Period, rather than the rituals now practiced in synagogues.
Keep in mind that what follows will reflect what Jesus and his original followers
experienced every year. There are hints in the Synoptic Gospels that the final
year of the life of Jesus may have coincided with the Year of Jubilees, but we
will look at what happened every year at the Temple. The fact that the highest
official of the Temple, the High Priest, was required to personally officiate
the rituals, made the importance of Yom Kippur very clear to everyone. Download
or read the compete article at -- http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1014_DTB_Yom_Kippur.pdf
One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
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