Christian observances of Jewish holidays
Some Christian groups incorporate Jewish holidays into their religious practice, typically altering and reinterpreting their observation to suit a supersessionist theology.
Many of the Jewish practices appropriated by these groups originated in modern rabbinic Judaism, long postdating early Christianity.
Many of these Christians believe that the intended purpose of all of the biblical holy days is to foreshadow or point to the identity of the Messiah, citing that Paul the Apostle confirms this view by linking Jesus' sacrifice to the fulfilment of the Jewish feast of Passover.
[13] Prominent Protestant leaders such as Chuck Missler, Sid Roth, and John Hagee advocate the return to the 1st-century walk of faith and Christianity's connection to its Hebrew roots.
But there are Christian groups, the Assemblies of Yahweh, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Roots, and some congregations of the Church of God (Seventh Day), that celebrate some parts of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
), who celebrate the Passover meal in order to provide historical and cultural background for Maundy Thursday, part of the Paschal Triduum, during Holy Week.
However, Shavuot is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals laid out for the Torah observant Jews, which was the reason for the huge gathering of Jewish believers in Jerusalem on that same day.
On this day ritual trumpet blasts signify the issuance of revelation and a call for Israel to gather for God's word of redemption.
[22] In the Roman calendar still observed by Traditionalist Catholics, the Michaelmas Ember days (the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the first full week after 14 September (the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, or "Roodmas") are penitential days inspired by the Jewish solemnities of the “seventh month,” Tishrei (תִּשְׁרֵי), especially Yom Kippur.
[25] Many groups affiliated with Messianic Judaism have provided instruction describing the evangelical significance for observance of this day.
Referring to Paul the Apostle, Acts 18:20–21 states: "When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; but bade them farewell, saying, I must keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again to you, if God will.
[32] Cardinal Danielou also saw references to the Feast of Tabernacles in the Shepherd of Hermas,[33] which would indicate that around that time some in Rome also observed it, though he believes that later on they transferred it to become something else.
[36] After the rise of Emperor Constantine, Christian observance of the Feast of Tabernacles became increasingly viewed as heretical by the developing Catholic church.
In the 4th century, Epiphanius discusses Nazarene Christians who kept the Jewish Holy Days in various locations in his time, a practice which he considered heretical.
[40] Nevertheless, a small number of Christian groups continued to observe the Feast of Tabernacles outside of the sphere of the Catholic Church.
In 1588, the Szekler Sabbatarians of Transylvania united under the unitarian nobleman András Eőssi, observed Christian versions of all of the biblical Jewish Holy Days including the Feast of Tabernacles.
They developed a hymn book with songs specifically for Christian observance of the Jewish Holy Days [41][42] They considered themselves as converted gentiles who had inherited from the Jews the eternally binding law, which God had given.
Today, the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles or Sukkot, is celebrated by a growing number of groups, including Messianic Jews, Church of God groups,[44][45] and Apollo Quiboloy's Kingdom of Jesus Christ church in the Philippines,[46] as well as the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).
Some members may send or exchange greeting cards prior to the event, participate in special meals, music, and worship services, and give alms.
As with many Christians who have observed it in the past, it is tied to Christ's millennial reign on earth, believed to be a time of great spiritual and physical blessing for all mankind.
[25] Members are instructed to save a tenth of their income as part of a Second tithe to spend on themselves and their families in order to have the means to observe all the holidays, but particularly the Feast of Tabernacles.
