The Jewish Feasts That Point to the Messiah

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

Tammy Priest grew up deeply connected to her Jewish heritage. As a child, Jewish holidays and traditions gave her a strong sense of identity and connection to a people and history that stretched across generations. During college, however, that understanding took an unexpected turn. At age 21, Priest says she experienced an audible encounter with God in which she heard the words, “Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Son of God.” The experience forced her to wrestle with what faith in Jesus meant for someone who treasured her Jewish identity and traditions. Rather than abandoning that heritage, Priest says her understanding of Judaism deepened as she began seeing connections between the Hebrew Scriptures, Jewish traditions and the New Testament. Her ministry now focuses on helping Christians discover those connections.

THE BOOK: JERUSALEM CALLS

Jerusalem Calls: Three Jewish Feasts and My Journey to Jesus combines memoir, Scripture and Jewish history to tell Priest's journey from a Jewish upbringing to faith in Jesus while exploring three ancient pilgrimage feasts: Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Booths. Priest examines the biblical foundations, historical traditions and modern practices surrounding each feast, then explains how she believes each points toward Jesus as Messiah. Passover points to Jesus as the Lamb of God; Pentecost connects the giving of the Torah with the coming of the Holy Spirit; and the Feast of Booths points toward God's promise to dwell with His people. The book is intended for both Christians interested in the Jewish roots of their faith and Jewish readers willing to consider the traditions they know from a different perspective.

CORE THEMES

The central claim of Jerusalem Calls is that Jesus does not represent a rejection of the Jewish story—He is its deepest fulfillment. Priest approaches the subject as someone who personally loved and practiced these traditions before coming to believe they were pointing her toward Jesus.

•    Passover (Pesach) recalls Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Priest connects the sacrifice of the Passover lamb to Jesus as the Lamb of God and the ultimate liberation from sin and death. 

•    Pentecost (Shavuot) commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai and the firstfruits of the harvest. She examines how the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts takes on richer meaning when understood against this Jewish background. 

•    The Feast of Booths (Sukkot) celebrates God’s provision and Israel’s wilderness journey while looking toward the harvest. Priest links its theme of God dwelling with His people to the incarnation and the ultimate biblical promise of God making His home with humanity.

Throughout the book, Priest argues that understanding these Jewish traditions can make familiar Christian passages more vivid and understandable. Her approach is not to discard Jewish tradition but to show how Scripture, history and tradition intersect in ways that she believes point to Jesus.

WHY THE BOOK MATTERS 

Jerusalem Calls matters because it addresses a question many Christians have but may not know how to answer: What do the Jewish feasts have to do with Jesus?

For Christians, Priest provides a window into the Jewish world in which Jesus lived and the early church emerged. The feasts, rituals and traditions that can seem distant or unfamiliar become a framework for understanding passages in the Gospels and Acts. The book also offers Christians a deeper appreciation for the Jewish roots of their own faith. 

The book also matters because Priest approaches the subject from personal experience. She isn't simply explaining Judaism from an academic distance. These are the traditions she grew up celebrating and cherishing. Her conversion story creates a tension at the heart of the book: How does someone embrace Jesus without abandoning the heritage she loves?

For Jewish readers, the book presents an invitation to reconsider familiar Scriptures and traditions through Priest's understanding of Jesus as Messiah. For Christians, it challenges readers to see the New Testament within the Jewish context in which it was written.

Ultimately, Jerusalem Calls presents the Jewish feasts not simply as ancient religious observances, but as signposts. Priest's message is that when Christians understand where those traditions came from, they can see more clearly how she believes they lead to Jesus—and how the story of the Gospel is rooted in the story of Israel.
 

To learn more about Tammy Priest, click the LINK! 

CREDITS

Jewish follower of Jesus; founder of Beginning with Moses, a ministry focused on the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, and host of the Challah Day podcast.  Author of Jerusalem Calls, A Star will Rise and more.