Use of Jewish Traditions in Our Worship

Everyone inherits customs and traditions from their parents, family, churches, synagogues, and the society in which they were born. As people grow and became adults, many re-evaluate these traditions; hold on to some, and toss out others. But again, everyone has them!

In America, we have plenty of good, family-oriented traditions. For example, we celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks and cookouts in honor of national independence. On Thanksgiving, we have a special family dinner in honor of our American forefathers who traditionally gave thanks to God at the fall harvest time for His provision.

These national traditions help define us as Americans and add value to our identity. These practices give meaning to special times on our calendar. They are memorials of our past and they remind us of the course we set for the future as a people. We believe our religious traditions have the same purposes.

Traditions are defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:

• “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (such as a religious practice or a social custom)…the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction.”

In this article, we want to focus on what the New Covenant says about using Jewish traditions and customs in our worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why do many people struggle with this topic? Is it because antisemitism is still prevalent? Is it because of pressure from some teachers who teach that ALL Jewish traditions are bad? Or, is it because of misinterpretations of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) and Paul’s teaching on the subject?

History tells us that antisemitism existed, and separatism was enforced, when the Roman Empire gained control of the majority of early assemblies. Our previous articles addressed this separation. This is when the “church” adopted many traditions in their worship of God that did not have a basis in Judaism. For example, assembling on Sundays, holidays that align with the pagan calendar, their form of baptisms, alter calls, collection plates, etc., etc.

As God-Fearers, we believe we should practice our faith using the Jewish traditions and customs that the Messiah Yeshua and His Apostles established, not the Roman Empire or Catholic church. As we will see later, the Apostle Paul instructed ALL Believers in Yeshua to “hold to the traditions” he taught. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 11:1:

• “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Messiah. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.”

YESHUA AND JEWISH TRADITIONS

Clearly, Yeshua included the Jewish traditions and customs of His day in walking out His Heavenly Father’s commandments. His observance of the Passover meal is an example. Where does it say in the Book of Exodus to drink several cups of wine or dip bitter herbs with others from the same cup during the Passover meal? Yeshua and His disciples were obviously having a traditional Passover Seder in accordance with Jewish tradition:

• Mark 14:6-20, “So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Yeshua said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me." And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?" He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.

• Luke 22:14-21, “So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.

When Yeshua was on earth, He observed the weekly Sabbath (and special Sabbaths) according to Jewish customs. We know the Scripture requires us to assemble on the Sabbath (7th day) according to the book of Exodus and other references. However, it does NOT specify the “how or what or when” on this day for our assembly. There were already cultural norms established in the first century that provided an order of service in the synagogues long before Yeshua was born. We read in Luke 4:16:

• “So, He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”

We know that Yeshua DID have a problem with “bad traditions” that rendered God’s commandments to no effect, and caused others to break His commandments. We read in Mark 7:1-9, where Yeshua addressed a situation where ceremonial traditions of hand washing, in a “special way,” were discussed.

• “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault… "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men--the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

Yeshua ended this debate over differing hand-washing traditions by bringing out the weightier matters of the commandments in verses 20-23:

• “And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

We would do well to learn from Yeshua’s statements here and not get into arguments over varying traditions. We should focus more on our own character development, not judging each other, or spending time on fruitless discussions.

Later, in this same section, Yeshua rebuked these men for following a “bad tradition” that they believe negated their responsibility to honor their mother and father. Yeshua was NOT saying that all Jewish customs and traditions are wrong or bad. However, many teachers believe this is exactly what He was doing and they teach all Jewish traditions are forbidden. Yeshua would certainly have upheld ALL commandments or He would not be the Messiah. He was teaching us how to know the difference between a good and a bad tradition.

APOSTLE PAUL AND TRADITIONS

The Greek word for “tradition,” used by Yeshua above, is the same Greek word used by Paul when he instructed the assemblies of Corinth and Thessalonica to “hold to the traditions.” This word is Strong’s Concordance # G3862:

• παράδοσις – “paradosis”: From G3860; transmission, that is, (concretely) a precept; specifically, the Jewish traditionary law: - ordinance, tradition.

Paul states in his letter to the assembly in Thessalonica:

• 2 Thess 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”

• 2 Thess 3:6, “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Master Yeshua Messiah, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.”

However, Paul warned the Colossian assembly against turning to worldly traditions of men in Col 2:8:

• Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Messiah.

We can see from the above verse, the world has its own sets of traditions and philosophies. In the verses below, we see Paul lamenting about believers turning back to worldly, pagan systems and calendars, which were their traditions BEFORE they became believers in Messiah. He states in Galatians 4:8-10:

• “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years.”

CONCLUSION

The Jewish traditions and customs that Yeshua would approve of, would be those that help us keep His commandments in a beautiful and meaningful way. Some of these include: order of service on Shabbat, Passover Seders, baking bread, building a Sukkah, blowing Shofars, honoring the deceased at funerals, etc., etc. All of these and others help us to express our worship of God at various times.

Yeshua would never agree with the teachers who speak against all Jewish traditions and customs. We know from experience that traditions have their proper place. In a nutshell, while every religious group has meaningful traditions; these traditions CANNOT replace the clearly stated commandments of God.

Now, we hope, we understand the difference between a good tradition and a bad one.