Biblical Life eMag - Biblical Life College & Seminary

A Jewish Perspective:
For the Generations to Come the
Feasts of the Torah
by Jennifer Willford, M.S.W. (BLCS Graduate Student)
I
am Jewish as are my past generations. My maternal
grandmother traveled by boat with her family from Russia when
she was seven. My maternal grandfather came from a long line
of rabbis. My paternal great‐grandfather immigrated to the United States. The pain of being
persecuted for being Jewish was evident in both sides of my family, so we rarely spoke of being
Jewish to outsiders. While earlier generations had a strong belief in the G‐d of the Torah, later
generations turned away.
My immediate family settled into a peaceful blend of keeping the occasional Jewish traditions
while allowing in a bit of the world s festivities like a white Hanukkah bush with blue
ornaments that was really a Christmas tree. There was enough generational tradition to
remain set apart as a Jew and to feel somehow left out of the holidays and church activities
that my friends enjoyed. My parents were quite firm in teaching us that we did not celebrate
Easter because we did not believe in Jesus ; they never were firm about what we did believe.
We did not regularly attend synagogue and mostly spoke of G‐d when there was a crisis. I did
attend Hebrew School in third and fourth grade, so I had some foundation in the teachings of
the Torah just enough for my later journey.
When my mom passed away in 1997, I earnestly began to seek G‐d. During the journey, as I
learned about Jesus, G‐d brought many people across my path who taught me about Jesus
while gently helping me clear up my misconceptions and who guided me in the reconciliation of
being Jewish and believing in Jesus as Messiah. A little more than six months later, I finally knew
in Whom I believed ‐ Jesus! I was greeted with welcome to the family at my church was quite
surprised by the acceptance I received when people found out I was Jewish just like Jesus.
There was little teaching of anything Jewish after that as I readily replaced the Jewish Feasts
with the Christian holidays, including Christmas and Easter.
I loved reading the Word! Then came the questions Why did the church believe some things
in the Old Testament (what I called the Torah) but not others? It was then I ran into the phrase
for the generations to come .
In Genesis 9:12, G‐d confirms his covenant to not destroy the earth by floods for all
generations to come . In Genesis 17:7 G‐d covenants with Abraham to be his G‐d and the G‐d
of all Abraham s descendants for all generations to come . So far, so good, we (Christians)
believe this. Then I read Exodus 12:14 This day (the Passover) you are to commemorate; for
the generations to come you shall celebrated it as a festival to the LORD a lasting ordinance .
So why do we (as Christians) not celebrate the Passover?
Biblical Life eMag | Premier Issue