Christmas is one of the two most important holidays in the Christian world. It has massive visibility and resonance in even the most secular realms of twenty-first century western culture. The observance of Hanukkah, on the other hand, occupies a less privileged position within the Jewish calendar. But it has increased in prominence in modern times because of its proximity to Christmas. The Jewish world is ambivalent about Christmas. The season is not weighted with painful historical memories such as those associated with Good Friday and Easter, and its tone is cheerful and benevolent. But it is the one time in the year when some Jews sense their cultural otherness. But Yeshua was also “other,” even as the Jewish people in the midst of the Greco-Syrian empire of the second century BCE was “other.” In that sense, Christmas and Hanukkah both speak of a light that shines brightly in the midst of the darkness, summoning all to be warmed and illuminated by its radiance.

Join our December 2022 webinar in which we focus upon the opportunity and challenge of Christmas and Hanukkah.

Monsignor John Oesterreicher (1904-1993) was a Jewish-Catholic priest and theologian whose life was dedicated to reconciliation between Jews and Christians. Ordained a priest in Austria in 1927, in the 1930s he organized and wrote against Nazi antisemitism. Join our October webinar to learn more about this great figure in the modern history of Jewish disciples of Yeshua.

Unlike Passover/Easter and Shavuot/Pentecost, there are no traditional Christian holidays at this season corresponding to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. That both raises questions and creates opportunities. What is the significance of these holidays in Jewish tradition? How should Jewish disciples of Yeshua today, from diverse communities, approach this season? How can gentile disciples of Jesus best honor the Jewish people and its tradition during this time? View our September 2022 webinar in which we focus upon the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in which Jews around the world seek forgiveness and spiritual renewal.

Members of Yachad BeYeshua met June 20-23, 2022 at The King’s University in Southlake, Texas. The conference theme will be “Kadima Yachad (Forward Together): Channels of Jewish Communal Life in the Body of the Messiah.” With the image of Solomon’s Portico fresh in our minds, we focused on the four vehicles of communal life listed in Acts 2:42: apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Just as the apostles gathered together in Jerusalem a community of diverse Jews from the four corners of the earth, so our Messiah is gathering us together to bear witness to God’s faithful love for Israel and the Church. View the Major Presentations from each morning session.

For the first followers of Yeshua, these redemptive events were celebrated together. How did these holidays grow apart? How should Jewish disciples of Yeshua today, from diverse communities and traditions, approach this season? How can gentile disciples of Jesus best honor the Jewish people and its tradition during this time? Watch our April 2022 webinar in which we address the Passover / Easter Connection.

Paul Philip Lavertoff spent much of his life laboring toward the formation of "Jewish Christianity," a forerunner of the modern, Messianic Jewish movement. Watch our March 2022 webinar in which we hear a dialogue about this pioneer of Messianic Judaism.

Abram Poljak believed that the rise and existence of Jewish believers in Yeshua was a sign of the coming Messianic Age. Watch our January 2022 webinar in which we will critique and learn from Poljak — drawing from his passion to strengthen our own unique calling as Jewish disciples of Yeshua.

Watch our October 2021 webinar to learn more about the legacy of Edith Stein (1891-1942), a German Jewish philosopher who was baptized a Catholic in 1922, entered the Carmelite order in 1933, and died at Auschwitz in 1942. She was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Watch our June 2021 webinar to learn more about Jakob Jocz — Theologian of Jewish Christianity. Born and raised in Central Europe as a third-generation Jewish disciple of Yeshua, he was an Anglican missionary, priest, theologian, professor, and leader in the international Hebrew Christian movement in the period following the Second World War.

Watch our April 2021 webinar to learn more about the prophetic witness of Fr. Alexander Men, a Jew with a great love for the Jewish people who helped many other Jews in Soviet Russia to encounter the risen Messiah.

Watch our February 2021 webinar to learn more about Joseph Rabinowitz and his significance for 21st century Jewish disciples of Yeshua.

Watch our January 2021 webinar about the Jewish Cardinal with our hosts Amanda Achtman and Jason Moraff and guests Fr. Etienne Veto and Dr. Matthew Friedman.

UN Photo/Michel Claude

Watch our December 2020 webinar with Fr. David Neuhaus, Aaron Eby, and Dr. Jennifer Rosner.

Watch our November 2020 Yachad BeYeshua webinar with Dr. Richard Harvey and Svetlana Panich.

Watch our October 2020 Yachad BeYeshua inaugual webinar.