The Meal of the Holy King, part 2

Judaism knows of the three traditional sabbath meals as times when the various manifestations of the Shekinah are present. Within the mystical circles each of these meals is described by the following names (with each proceeding from Friday night to the final third meal of Saturday evening): Chakal Tapuchin (Field of Apples), Atika Kadisha (Holy Ancient One), and Z’eir Anpin (Little Face). See the Zohar II, 88a-b (vol. 3, p. 268-272 in the Soncino edition) for an elaboration on the various manifestations and their presence at the three sabbath meals.

The Rev. Paul P. Levertoff’s liturgy is titled “Meal of the Holy King”. We find in the Zohar II, 88b the following: “R. Simeon used always to say when the time of the Sabbath meal arrived: ‘Prepare ye the meal of the supernal Faith! Make ready the meal of the King!’” (trans. Levertoff, Soncino ed.). Evoking the symbolism found with the kabbalistic doctrine of the Shekinah and noting the similarities found within the New Testament, Rev. Levertoff has progressed one step further in establishing what his daughter Olga wrote saying ‘a Hebrew Christian branch of the Catholic Church’.

Rev. Levertoff’s usage of terminology from the mystical circles within Judaism afford us a glimpse into his own understanding of the New Testament’s doctrine of the Shekinah. According to the Gospel of St. Matthew we read in 18.20 ”For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”; compare this with the text from Pirke Avot 3.3 which says, “but if two sit together and interchange words of Torah, the Divine Presence [lit. Shekinah] abides among them” (trans. Gorfinkle; Bloch Publishing, 1913. p. 52-53).

Also, the Presence of the Shekinah is said to reside among all of Israel while she is in exile. Compare with this the words from our Lord in the concluding lines of St. Matthew’s gospel in 28.20 which says “and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” On this last verse Levertoff states, “Christ is the Shekinah, i.e., the visible Presence of God. His Presence is the Presence of God.”

Rev. Levertoff notes in issues of The Church and Jews that we owe to the Jews among several other things the Holy Communion. He says “The Holy Communion was instituted at the Paschal Supper, and parts of that ritual of that meal have been continued in the Service.” Levertoff goes on to quote the commentary ”The First Epistle to the Corinthians” (Cambridge: 1899) by John James Lias which says in the comments to 1 Cor. 5.8, “In truth it (the Last Supper) was a real Passover, though not the Passover of the old, but of the new Law” (p. 60). Lias goes on to say that this is “a standing witness to the fact that Christ has become our continual food. In conclusion, Levertoff quotes two verses that display the practice of the Eucharist within the early Christian community: 1 Corinthians 5.7 and Acts 2.42.

*A special thanks to my colleague Jorge Quinonez for making the file of Rev. Levertoff’s “Meal of the Holy King” available.

 

The Meal of the Holy King, part 1

On the recently announced “Vine of David” website from First Fruits of Zion, one can find a repository of works from Jewish believers of the last century. One of those works, The Meal of the Holy King, by Paul Philip Levertoff has struck my particular interest.

The Meal of the Holy King is a Hebrew-Christian Liturgy that Levertoff created for use during the celebration of the Eucharist at his congregation, Holy Trinity Church. Levertoff was known for his thorough knowledge and appreciation of the  mysticism of his Orthodox Jewish roots. Meal of the Holy King is a prime example of how Levertoff integrated his mystical Jewish upbringing with his faith in Yeshua. While this liturgy incorporates liturgy from many parts of the siddur, I’d like to focus here on the influence Levertoff took from the traditional meals of Shabbat.

The title “Meal of the Holy King” is not just fancy church-speak, but is highly evokative of Jewish mysticism. Its Aramaic title is diseudata d’malka kadisha. These very words are based on the Zohar, and are a part of the meal liturgy for the Sabbath. Here are the opening words of this prayer from the the ArtScroll siddur,

I shall prepare the feast of perfect faith, the joy of the Holy King. I shall prepare the feast of the King. This is the feast of the Miniature Presence.

Just as in Levertoff’s title, this prayer is composed entirely in Aramaic, not the Hebrew characteristic throughout most of the siddur.

As one reads through Levertoff’s liturgy, one finds many references and allusions to the meal of the Sabbath. In preparation for the Eucharist, Levertoff’s liturgy instructs the congregation to sing Yedid Nefesh, another component of the traditional meal liturgy.

Another parallel can be found on pg. 17 of the liturgy. Just after the Words of Institution (this is my body, this is my blood), Levertoff then has the priest announce to the congregation, “This is Meal of perfect Faith, the Joy of the Holy King,” again, taken from the liturgy referenced above.

Lastly, after the Absolution (pg. 21), and just prior to taking the elements, the priest chants Psalm 23. While obviously this is not a uniquely Jewish liturgy (as it is a popular piece in the Christian psalter), its placement here is clearly influenced by its use in the Third Meal liturgy. One, it does not appear there in the Book of Common Prayer. And two, this is the only liturgical use of this Psalm in the weekly Jewish liturgy, and to my knowledge, even throughout the entire Jewish liturgical year.

Through these references, Levertoff clearly sees a a close relation between the themes of the Sabbath meals and the Eucharist. But what?

In part 2, we’ll take a look at the signficance Levertoff saw between the Sabbath meals and the Eucharist.

*UPDATE* My esteemed colleague, Brian Reed, pointed out to me that most of these texts are used for every Sabbath meal by Hasidim (the both the Arizal and Sepharic texts). In my Ashkenaz ArtScroll siddur, they only have it for Third Meal. Oh well, only minor edits were needed. Nonetheless, we still see that Levertoff saw a thematic link between these meals as practiced by the Hasidim and the celebration of the Eucharist. More to come…

 

Patronizing Terminology

In my current readings I am beginning the process of working through the Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright’s series called “Christian Origins and the Question of God.” Last night I began the first of a projected six voume series (three of the six volumes being already published) and came across a most interesting thought in the preface. The following comes from the book titled “The New Testament and the People of God”, p. xv. Please excuse me for posting nearly the entire paragrapah but to omit anything contained therein would detract from Wright’s main point. He says,

[...] some people get cross if they see the usage BC and AD in reference to dates before and after the birth of Jesus, since they take it as a sign of Christian imperialism. Others are irritated if they see Christians using the increasingly popular ‘neutral’ alternatives BCE (‘Before the Common Era’) and CE (‘Common Era’), because it seems either patronizing or spineless. Similar debates rage as to whether the Hebrew Bible should be called ‘Tanach’ or ‘Old Testament’, or perhaps even ‘The Older Testament’ (in my view, this last is the most patronizing of all); or whether ‘First Testament’ and ‘Second Testament’ are more appropriate. It is strange that it seems to be scholars within the broad Christian tradition who are afflicted with these problems. Jewish writers do not affect ‘Christian’ ways of referring to dates and books, nor would I wish them to. In all these cases there is, I fear, a malaise among us, which consitsts of the desire to present a ‘neutral’ of ‘objective’ view as though we were all merely disinterested historians looking down from an uninvolved Olympian height. As I shall be arguing in Part II of the present volume, such an epistemology is inappropriate and indeed impossible.

 

Holy Trinity Church

Rev. Dr. Paul Phillip Levertoff was a Jewish believer who late in life became an ordained Anglican priest. He became the parish priest of Holy Trinity Church in Shoreditch in 1923. Here is what is thought to be a picture of the sanctuary of Holy Trinity…

It was located on Old Nichols St.

What I’ve found surprising is that this area was previously one of the worst slums in late 1800’s in London.

During this time, the then priest of Holy Trinity, Rev. A.O.M. Jay, used part of the church for a boxing ring!

Christian boxing!

 

The Franciscans

First, allow me to extend warm greetings to all today in the celebration of Ascension Day. A collection of prayers for the day may be found at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/dailyprayer with links on the right of the page for morning, evening and night prayers.

Second, if I may, allow me to share a brief thought that I came across from Denise Levertov, daughter of the Rev. Paul P. Levertoff (1878-1954). She states the following:

The Hasidim were a lot like the Franciscans.

As noted by John Felstiner, if the Rev. Levertoff were to make this same statement he might have said it thus:

“The Franciscans were a lot like the Hasidim.”

According to Denise, in both the Hasidim and the Franciscans, “there was a recognition and joy, in the physical world. And a sense of wonder at creation…” (from Sutton, A Conversation with Denise Levertov, 1965).

 

Random thoughts about Ascension Day

Based on one’s reckoning of the Crucifixion of Yeshua, your determination of Ascension Day will be different. Some, such as the teachers at FFOZ, are celebrating it today (May 19, 40 of the Omer) based on a Erev Pesach (14 Nisan) Crucifixion. Myself, I hold to a 15 Nisan crucifixion, and so Ascension Day for me will be tomorrow, May 20. According to Christian tradition, which counts Ascension Day from Easter Sunday, Ascension Day this year will be on May 21. Regardless of the actual date, however, the important thing is that Ascension Day is observed and the importance of this event is realized by believers.

Though new to some, the Feast of the Ascension has a long history of observance in Christian tradition. The earliest reference to its observance is the fifth century, though in those documents it is believed to be of apostolic origin. In the Eastern church, it is sometimes referred to as analepsis, the taking up or episozomene, the salvation, due to the fact that the ascension completed the work of redemption. It is considered as important as Pascha and Pentecost. (For more, see the Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry here)

Here is a prayer from The Book of Common Prayer for Ascension Day:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

I went to Mars Hill a few weeks ago and heard Rob Bell speak on the Holy Spirit. Mars Hill right now has been preaching a Pentecost series. But one point Rob made really struck me, and I think it appropriate for Ascension Day. The disciples asked the question, “Where are you going that we cannot follow?” Why did Christ have to leave us and return to the Father? Why is it so significant that when he left, the Holy Spirit came? Rob’s answer: Presence prevents empowerment.

Christ left so that we might continue the work in a way that we could not if he were here among us. Christ ascends so that we can become the disciples we are made to be. He told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses.” They had seen the Risen Christ and very likely were overflowing with excitement about the coming of the Kingdom and the End of the Age. Yet, they probably didn’t see themselves as the keys to its fulfillment. Afterall, Yeshua is here, he’ll take care of it. But Christ did not choose to do things that way. Instead, he has given the task of proclaiming the Kingdom to us, albeit strengthened and renewed through his Spirit among us.

This Ascension Day, remember that empowerment has been given you from above to continue the work begun by our Master Yeshua. Be his witness.

 

New Author on JudeoXian Blog

With my recent efforts to upgrade the frequency of content on the blog, I have asked my good friend and brother Brian Reed “canterburytrail” to be a co-contributor to the JudeoXian blog.

Brian and I were able to get to know one another quite well as co-workers in the FFOZ backroom and as neighbors in Missouri. We share a love for good coffee, dark ales, and dry humor. I appreciate Brian for his balanced perspectives on biblical studies as well as theology, and his almost tireless ability to read and research.

It is my hope that you will come to appreciate Brian’s perspectives as well.

To those of my few readers out there, please welcome Brian to the blog.

 

A Better Blog

I’m still catching my breath from my two term papers this semester. For Early Christian Centuries, I wrote on Jewish-Christian relations during the period between the two Jewish revolts in 70 and 135, focusing especially on the emergence of the Jerusalem Community. For my independent study, I wrote on Jewish-Christian relations from the rise of Islam (622) to the eve of the Reformation. Both topics were both fascinating and exhausting. Tomorrow I complete my oral final exam and I’m “free” for the summer.

But with more free time, I hope to devote more time to blogging and participating in the online Messianic conversation. My studies have shaped my perspectives in new and different ways. Hopefully, the perspectives can help the Messianic community continue to mature and grow.

For my first blog, I plan on writing on the reclaiming of Ascension Day by the Messianic Community, as well as the celebration of Lag Ba’Omer and another recent “holiday,” Jerusalem Day.

So, with God’s help, JudeoXian will be a better blog this coming summer.

Grace and peace

 

A Note on Sukkot-mas

And now for something random. I post this now simply because I ran across an interesting bit of info while reading one Sabbath.

It is frequently taught in Messianic circles that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). I’ve even taught it in the past. And while it may sound appealing at first (and lends further justification for eschewing the traditional date of the Nativity in greater Christianity), it really has no more biblical justification than Dec. 25.

(Incidentally, this phenomenon of celebrating the first advent of Messiah at the Feast of Tabernacles just goes to show that even Messianics desire to commemorate the birth of Messiah, albeit on a different day. Which shows that the desire to commemorate Jesus’ birth is common to both Christians and Messianics. Yet, for some reason one is more pagan than the other.)

So where does this teaching find justification? From the articles I have read, the entire method of dating Jesus’ birth stems from a reference in Luke 1:5:

“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah”

Back in the days of the first temple, the priesthood had grown to an enormous size. Obviously, all the priests didn’t need to be at the temple each day, but they still needed to participate at some point. So, the priests where divided into 24 divisions according to families (the sons of Eleazer and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons). This is recorded in 1 Chronicles 24:1ff. The eighth in this order was Abijah, Zechariah’s division. (Not all the divisions/families returned from Babylon, so the remaining priests were reorganized into these original 24 divisions. So though Zechariah was considered Abijah, this doesn’t mean he was actually descended from that family)

So, having these 24 courses, each division was on duty in the temple for a week at a time, 2 times a year. They also served during the pilgrimage feasts of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

From here, so the teaching goes, we can determine that Zechariah would have been in the temple during his course during the eighth week of the year, the last week of Iyyar, the 2nd month (or Cheshvan, the 8th month , but that doesn’t fit the desired chronology, so Iyyar is arbitrarily chosen). From here, the rest of the chronology is worked out from John’s conception, Yeshua’s conception, John’s birth and Yeshua’s birth (from the time references in Luke, John and Yeshua being born 6 months apart).

The entire teaching stands or falls on when Zechariah was in the temple. So it seems like a pretty air tight case, doesn’t it? I thought so for a while. But I’ve found one major error in this whole theory, one that cripples it entirely.

Reading on the calendar used by the Essenes of the Qumran community, I came across this interesting fact. The Essenes referred to each week by its priestly division. Thus, Zechariah’s week would have been referred to as “Abijah week.” But with 24 divisions of priests serving twice, that leaves you with 48 weeks. For the Essene calendar, that leaves you with four more weeks, for a complete 52 week solar year. Thus, each year, the first four divisions would have to serve a third time in order to finish out the year.

Granted, the Essene calendar was a 364-day solar calendar. This calendar was not used by the Sadducees or Pharisees. But, what this does show is that the calendar (whether Essene, Sadducean, or Pharisaic, does not perfectly sync with the 24 divisions of the priests). This would be especially true in years that the Sanhedrin would be required to add a leap month (Adar II). This yearly irregularity would push back the first few divisions. Leap years would add even more irregularity to this mix. Thus, from one year to another, the time that the priests served in the temple could vary up to a month from when they served the previous year. Depending on what year this occurred, Zechariah’s division could have been in the temple in literally any month of the year.

Thus, based on this calendrical irregularity, one cannot pin point Zechariah’s service in the temple during the last week of Iyyar with any certainty. To do so is arbitrary. And therefore, neither can Jesus’ birth during Sukkot be proven via this calculation.

 

Messianic Kavanah during the Seder

My experience putting together my own haggadah was a much more labor intensive process than I deemed at first. One of the most difficult aspects was how to artfully, and respectfully, deviate from the traditional text by adding certain passages in remembrance of the Master (after all, for disciples, this is a mitzvah, not an option). Entering into the world of creating liturgy is treading on hallowed ground. One should not be flippant or cavalier with how you “create” texts for worship.

One important factor I have discovered is not necessarily the need for more texts (though I have them), but more importantly, having a distinctively Messianic kavanah for the texts that are already there. Kavanah is basically defined as the intention one has behind the prayers as you are reciting them. Different traditions within Judaism pray the same prayers, but will sometimes have different kavanot behind them.

As a disciple, a very profound way to connect with the traditional seder is to have a Yeshua-centered kavanah behind sections of the haggadah. One area in particular I have found this to be most profound is in the Hallel psalms. Singing these psalms with thoughts of the Master’s death, burial, and resurrection in mind brings these praises a completely different layer of meaning for us who call him Messiah.

In so doing, I think we have a great opportunity to connect with the Master, without thinking we have to invent so much new material.