This is part 6 of the 11 part series on the writer's journey back to Judaism. For the other parts, read this.
Now that I had found the “truth” I jumped with both feet. My parents were not very happy at first. I think my dad would have preferred he had let me go to Cuba all those years ago when I was in my activist stage;)
But now I was a full fledged “messianic jew” as I called myself. More Jewish than ever, I started celebrating the “feasts” and reading the bible. I bought a messianic bible that turned everything into very “Jewishy” sounding words. The Apostle Paul that I was warned about all those many years ago in Jerusalem, was now Rav Shaul. The apostle Peter was Kefa, and so on.
My new dream was to work for a Jewish mission to help save fellow Jews or work in some kind of ministry! I wanted to bring the truth to the world! I landed a job with a Christian bookstore and met a man who looked distinctively Jewish. Surprised, I found out he was simply Christian, but very much interested in his Jewish roots as a Christian. He agreed to come visit my new Messianic congregation that conveniently met at a Southern Baptist Church on Shabbat when the Sunday worshippers were not using it.
My coworker loved all the “Jewishness” he was exposed to and asked to unofficially apprentice to learn how a Messianic congregation worked! His grandmother had always loved Israel, and he did too. Soon, more had grown than a love for the Jewish roots, a deepening relationship budded with me as well, and we were married in a messianic ceremony in Atlanta.
Our wedding had lots of Jewish trim, with a chuppah, the hora, broken glass and more. The Torah and the brit chadasha (what we called the New Testament) was shared openly. We began our lives as up and coming leaders in the Messianic world.
I remember seeing an Orthodox Jewish family on T.V. A strange longing came in my heart. I went to a leader I respected and asked worried, that perhaps one day I would leave “Yeshua.” He told me what I was seeing on T.V. was just something ancient that would have an appeal to all. Like seeing any ancient culture, such as the Chinese, it was my imagination that the draw was anything deeper. Satisfied, I went deeper into this world on Hebraic Christianity, thinking all along I was on the side of Moses.
I did not know it at the time, but that longing I had when I saw the Jewish family on T.V. had not fully gone away, but was just buried, and would reappear many, many years later.
To Be Continued . . .