Hanukkah day 3 lighting, Torah reading, Parashat Miketz

Hanukkah Day 3 Torah Portion: Numbers 7:24 - 7:35

Lighting the menorah and blessings

And the weekly torah portion for this Shabbat is Parashat Miketz (“at the end of”)

Dec 8, 2007 Kislev 28, 5768 Chanukah

Miketz
Gen 41:1-44:17
1Kings 3:15-4:1
Rom 10:1-13

This is my first year celebrating Hanukkah and so far I have learned so much. I never knew the origin of Hanukkah; truthfully, I never thought it mattered to me. Honestly, I might have rolled my eyes at Hanukkah being paralleled with Christmas. I didn't see any personal connection to the Jewish people as a non-Jew and I saw no collective connection as a believer in Christ. And some ignorant part of me thought the Jews should wisen up and just celebrate Christmas! But now as I am beginning to understand and embrace our Hebraic roots, I confess my ignorance. Now, I do feel that connection, moreso a need and a purpose for a connection.

The Jewish people are a light to the world, a light God called to glorify Him, that all nations would come to Him. The Jewish people have preserved our (1) Scriptures, (2) the way God directed them to live in the Torah and (3) the festivals God-ordained (and Hanukkah which was not commanded by God, but set apart for Him).

Though Christianity's ways, so to speak, differ, these "ways" would be without any resemblance to the One, True God without the commitment, loving devotion, and determination of the Jewish people. Over the centuries, millions of Jews have given their lives to preserve the Holiness of God and all that that entails and to bring forth Yeshua the Messiah, a descendant of Abraham, the first Hebrew. So to them, His chosen people, I am forever grateful.