Nothing like getting in on this late! LOL! Thanks Rachel for bringing my attention to this thread. I’ve been busy this week!
I grew up in a conservative Jewish home and came to the Lord when I was 17 – thinking I was the only Jew ever to have done such a thing! LOL! Very long story short, over the past few years the Lord has been having me identify man-made traditions (Jewish or otherwise) and separating that from His Word and His commands. For our family, we have made the choice to set aside man-made traditions. We do celebrate the Feasts, but not out of obligation to the Law since Yeshua has freed us from that. We celebrate the Feasts in order to refresh our reverence and awe of God and His plan of redemption that He had established from before the founding of the world.
It has been a wonderful blessing for us to be able to share these things with our son and to see him blossom in his relationship with God. One resource that was very handy for us when he was a little younger is a book called Walk with Y’shua Through the Jewish Year. There are some wonderful ideas for activities for the Feasts, what the Feasts are about, and a coloring page for each (if I remember correctly).
Another wonderful resource for anyone interested in looking at Scripture and the Messiah from a Jewish perspective is Ariel Ministries (http://www.ariel.org). They have free audio teaching files available on their website in the Come & See section. While these teachings aren’t sepcifically for children, we have used these teachings with our son to give him a very firm foundation in Scriptural truth. Initially I wasn’t sure that he would be able to grasp what was being taught, but the Lord really used those teachings mightily. Even if your kids don’t “get” all of it, they will get some and I believe it will give them a thirst for more.
I think it’s been about 4 years now that we stopped celebrating Christmas. I was getting awfully tired of telling our son that Yeshua wasn’t really born then and that the traditions that surround that holiday have nothing to do with Scripture. The Lord kept convicting me about that until we finally decided that it was actually quite ridiculous for us to celebrate something that had no meaning for us and that wasn’t focused on Messiah. That said, we don’t celebrate Easter or any other “church” holiday. The absolutely cool thing is that every single Biblical Feast points to and is filled with Messiah. Again, we aren’t obligated to keep the Feasts, but I believe there is a beautiful blessing for you if you do.
Being able to see how Messiah has fulfilled/will fulfill the Feasts is just amazing to me and I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to come to Him through Messiah so I can see!
Also, for those who might be interested, here is a link to my website where I have lots of articles posted about various Biblical topics all from a Jewish perspective – http://undertheshadow.tripod.com/
I’m also going to be sure to try and keep up with this thread!
Shalom, Linda