Published Date: February 17, 2019
Be be wrote:
Hi!
Why Rabbi Tuly keep saying the Jewish holidays again instead of biblical holidays? Please enlighten me.
Gidon responded:
Hi Be Be (what a lovely name!:-)
Thanks for writing.
You noticed something that opens up to you how a Jewish brain works:-)
As I have mentioned many times, up until very recently, and really for most Jews still, we Jews felt all alone in the world. It is very easy for Jews to say “It’s us against the world.” This goes for pretty much everything, and in no small way faith as well. Which means, anything that has anything to do with Jewish faith is exclusive to the Jews. This includes the Bible! And the commandments of the Bible as well. Which means, the biblical holidays for Jews are “our” holidays, and no one else’s. And while Rabbi Tuly and I and many others realize that you are right, these are God’s holidays as He described them in His Bible, the idea that they are “our” holidays, because frankly only Jews observed them for millennia, and even today only we observe them in the way we believe God meant them to be observed, then yes, they are Jewish holidays. But by all means, I believe and I think Rabbi Tuly is with me on this, more and more non-Jews are realizing that the Bible is for all mankind, and each person who feels called to do so may and even should listen to God commanding him or her with regard to the biblical holidays and feasts and anything else that they feel called to do so!
Keep studying!