Thank you for wanting to get to know us a little!
Bat-Tzion [pronounced 'bot tzeeyoan'] is a Messianic Jewish Community made up of Jews AND Gentiles who believe in Messiah. We are a congregation of those who are called to worship G-d, the Yahweh of the Bible, through Messiah Yeshua, the Son of G-d. Our Messiah is Jewish, and while He was here, He lived His life as a Jew. The most important part of that is that He was Torah observant. He did not observe it according to current Jewish teachings, nor according to teachings of His day, but according to HIS knowledge of Torah, since He is "HaDavar", the WORD. He settled all the Torah arguments that were in Israel in His day: "Is there a resurrection?" "Do we circumcise on the eighth day if it is a Sabbath", "Is Pesach on the 14th of Nisan or the 15th?", "Is Bikkurim on the 1st day of the week, or the day after Pesach?", and more; but, the only ones who received the benefit of that knowledge and peace are the ones who trusted in Him.
All the early believers were Jewish, and they lived their lives as Jews. They taught the pagan gentiles who learned to trust in Messiah to keep the Sabbath and all the feasts of G-d, and to live according to the Torah, in order to demonstrate their love for G-d and for Messiah, who said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments". But, the Jews were taught by the apostles not to weary gentiles, and the gentiles were taught by the apostles not to resent the Jews, nor to presume they had replaced them. They were taught that these two distinct communities are now "One in Messiah". But, in that oneness, they did NOT leave the nation of Israel! They remained part of it, with the gentiles being grafted into the "cultivated" Olive Tree of Israel, with Judah [Jews] at its base, and Messiah Yeshua, A Jew, as its deepest root.
We at Bat-Tzion strive to establish that ONENESS; we do not treat the Jew better than the Gentile, nor do we favor the Gentile over the Jew. We are all ONE! Because of what our Messiah suffered, and because of what He prayed for in the garden [Yochanan 17]. We keep His Torah, not because we think it will save us, because salvation has ALWAYS been by faith! We keep it because it sanctifies us from the world [John 17:17, I John 2:4]. We observe the Jewish tradition that the Apostles taught, that is Torah-based, and that we can affirm Messiah also kept, such as going to the synagogue on the Sabbath, wearing a tallit, blessing bread before eating, praying daily, blessing children, etc. But, we do not think for a moment that we are saved through 'traditions', or 'customs', but only that these customs help us keep the commands [going to synagogue helps us keep the command to assemble on the Sabbath, wearing the tallit helps us keep the command concerning wearing fringes], and they help us "impress" the commandments on our children [deut 6:4-9] and they unify us with Messiah, with the Olive Tree of Israel, and with one another as a community.
We have found great joy in keeping His Torah [Psalm 119], and we offer to anyone who wishes better to know the Messiah to study His WHOLE WORD with us, as He did not do away with His Commandments! [Matt 5:17-19]. We keep them because they give us light on the path we walk, protect us from the enemy, and bring us great peace. "Great Peace have they who LOVE YOUR TORAH". [Psalm 119:165] Join us if you too are called to serve Him with a pure heart, and desire to know HOW to do that effectively. Peruse our whole website, as there is much information concerning our faith captured herein.
Shalom l'cha B'Shem Adoneynu YHWH Yeshua HaMashiach!
