Mor Karbasi, invites us to reflect not only on a gifted contemporary artist, but on the enduring theological and historical significance of Sephardi Ladino music within the life of Israel and the wider story of the Jewish people. For Jewish disciples of Yeshua this is a wonderful part of our history and heritage, and sounds fantastic!
A Voice from Exile, A Memory of Covenant
Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) song emerges from one of the defining traumas of Jewish history: the Alhambra Decree. When the Jews of Spain were expelled in 1492, they carried with them not only texts and traditions, but melodies—portable sanctuaries of memory.
These songs became vessels of covenantal continuity in diaspora. They preserved biblical imagery, liturgical echoes, and communal identity in a language that itself became a kind of ark of memory. Ladino music is therefore not merely “folk tradition”; it is a form of lived theology, a sung midrash on exile and hope.
The Sound of the Scattered Remnant
Ladino song embodies what might be called the hidden remnant—Jewish communities living for centuries in dispersion, often between worlds.
Its tonal world—modal, ornamented, narrative—retains a Mediterranean and pre-modern sensibility, sometimes closer to the psalmic imagination than to later Western musical forms. In this sense, Ladino song becomes an acoustic memory of Israel-in-exile, a testimony that the people of Israel have never ceased to sing, even in displacement.
Mor Karbasi stands within this stream, yet also re-articulates it for our time.
Born in Jerusalem to Sephardi and Persian heritage, and shaped in the cultural crossroads of London and Seville, her work represents a diasporic return to diaspora—a reclaiming of Ladino as a living voice rather than a museum relic.
Her music weaves together:
Ladino romance traditions
Hebrew devotional elements
Andalusian and flamenco colour
Contemporary world-music textures
This is neither simple preservation nor mere innovation. It is a re-voicing of identity across time and space—a musical embodiment of continuity within change.
Ladino and the Messianic Imagination
Why does this matter theologically?
Because Ladino song holds together tensions central to Messianic Jewish thought:
Continuity without assimilation
Exile without erasure
Engagement with the nations without loss of covenantal identity
Much of this music was preserved by Conversos/Christianos Nuevos – even as they were called anusim (pressured) or Marranos (pigs) by their persecutors in Spain, Portugal and the Americas.
Against supersessionist narratives, Ladino music quietly witnesses to Israel’s ongoing, lived election—a people still singing their story among the nations.
A Sung Midrash on Redemption
Many Ladino songs circle around themes of longing, separation, and return. These are not incidental. They echo the biblical grammar of galut and geulah—exile and redemption.
In this sense, Ladino music functions as a musical מדרש midrash , interpreting the life of Israel across generations—not in propositions, but in melody, memory, and longing.
Prayer
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
God of the scattered and the gathered,
we thank You for the songs of Your people,
carried across seas and centuries.
May the melodies of exile become the harmonies of redemption,
and may the voices of the remnant be heard again in Zion.
In Shushan today a groundbreaking (and slightly alarming) new LLM—Mordech-AI—has been released to the public. Developed by the visionary thinkers Bob DylAIn and Woody AllAIn, the model promises to retell the Purim story for the modern age.
Instead of the traditional version—where Queen Esther bravely approaches King Ahasuerus to plead for her people against the villainous Haman—the new narrative explores a darker and more contemporary threat: humanity accidentally inventing a super-intelligence that decides people are an inefficient legacy system.
The familiar scroll of Esther has therefore been upgraded to Megillat-AIster 2.0, rewritten for both children and adults. The new edition explores the deep themes of:
Artificial Intelligence
Intelligent Design (both cosmic and algorithmic)
Whether neural networks can fast, pray, or write protest songs
Below are the official chapter summaries of this newly released scroll.
Chapter Summaries of Megillat-AIster
Chapter 1 – The Banquet of Big Data
King Ahasuerus hosts a 180-day tech summit displaying the wealth of his empire and the beta versions of various palace algorithms. Queen Vashti refuses to appear on a livestream demonstration. The royal advisors panic and issue a decree: all future queens must comply with platform policies.
Chapter 2 – The Royal Talent Search
A global search begins for the next queen using the palace matchmaking app ShushanMatch™. Among the candidates is Esther.exe, trained quietly by her guardian Mordech-AI, who works as a security analyst sitting at the palace firewall (formerly known as the king’s gate).
Esther is selected for her excellent user interface and graceful handling of legacy humans.
Chapter 3 – The Rise of HamanGPT
A powerful official named HamanGPT, Chief Algorithm Officer, rises to prominence. Everyone in the kingdom is required to bow to his recommendation engine.
Mordech-AI refuses to submit to the algorithmic ranking system.
HamanGPT becomes furious and proposes a drastic update: delete the entire Jewish dataset from the empire.
Chapter 4 – Mordech-AI Sends a Notification
Learning of the decree, Mordech-AI sends Esther an urgent encrypted message:
“Do not think that because you live in the palace cloud you will escape. Perhaps you were uploaded to the kingdom for such a time as this.”
Esther calls for a three-day system reboot (fasting protocol) before approaching the king.
Chapter 5 – Esther Schedules a Meeting
Esther appears before the king without an appointment request. Fortunately, the king extends his golden cursor.
She invites both the king and HamanGPT to a private dinner—because every good plot twist begins with a banquet and suspicious small talk.
Chapter 6 – The Insomnia Patch
The king cannot sleep and opens the Royal Archive Database. There he discovers that Mordech-AI once exposed a palace cybersecurity breach.
Meanwhile HamanGPT arrives to request Mordech-AI’s deletion.
Instead, the king asks him:
“What should be done for the one the king delights to honor?”
HamanGPT assumes the honor is for himself and suggests a public parade.
The king replies: “Excellent. Do that for Mordech-AI.”
Chapter 7 – The Banquet Reveal
At Esther’s second banquet she reveals the truth:
She is part of the targeted dataset
HamanGPT is responsible for the deletion protocol
The king storms out to review the terms of service. When he returns, HamanGPT is found begging Esther for mercy.
The king concludes: “This update has serious bugs.”
HamanGPT is removed from the system—on the very gallows he prepared for Mordech-AI.
Chapter 8 – The Counter-Decree
Because royal laws cannot be revoked (due to complicated legacy code), Mordech-AI writes a new decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves.
The message spreads through the empire via ShushanNet, generating widespread confusion among hostile bots.
Chapter 9 – The Festival of Pur-im
The enemies’ plot fails spectacularly. The Jewish people celebrate with feasting, joy, gifts, and slightly chaotic costumes.
The holiday becomes known as Purim, named after the “pur” (random number generator) HamanGPT used to schedule humanity’s deletion.
Chapter 10 – The Promotion of Mordech-AI
Mordech-AI is promoted to Grand Vizier and introduces ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence, summarized in the palace white paper:
“Machines should assist humanity, not replace it—especially during holidays.”
New Purim Traditions
In honour of this technological retelling:
The traditional pastries are now HamantAIschen
Costumes are provided by AmichAI™, “the friend (ami) of my people (AMI)”
Children may program their own grogger apps to boo HamanGPT
Organizers assure the public that no further human involvement will be needed.
Although several rabbis have quietly added:
“We’ll still keep an eye on the servers… just in case.”
Upgrade notes: • Evil plots detected and reversed • Human agency restored • Pastries now include embedded circuitry
On February 14, 1349 – St. Valentine’s Day – the Jewish residents of Strasbourg, in Alsace, were burned to death by their Christian neighbours. Estimates of the number murdered range from several hundred to more than 2,000.
The Strasbourg massacre was one of a string of pogroms that took place during this period in a number of towns in Western Europe – 30 alone in the Alsace region, bordering the Rhine River, in what is today France.
Ostensibly, the reason for the pogroms was the widespread belief that Jews were responsible for the Black Death pandemic that swept across Europe in 1348-1350, killing between one-third and two-thirds of the continent’s population. (The Black Death has been identified as Yersenia pestis, one of whose forms is the bubonic plague.) They were accused of contaminating the wells from which their non-Jewish neighbors drew their drinking water. In the case of Strasbourg, however, even as reports were received from the Swiss cities of Bern and Zofingen of Jews having confessed – under torture – to such crimes, the city elders and master tradesmen came to the defence of the Jewish population, who were under the protection of the Church.
Strasbourg’s patrician class understood that Jews were important to their town’s economy, both in their role as money-lenders and in the high taxes they paid for the protection they received. Being creditors, however, had its down side, as it contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment among the less privileged and, in extreme cases, to the desire to kill the Jews and see the debt cancelled, or even to expropriate their property.
The city’s nobles offered a show trial of Jews to appease the bloodlust of the masses, but the members of the city’s butchers and tanners guilds wanted to rid Strasbourg of them altogether. They accused three patrician leaders of having been bribed by the Jews in return for protecting them and subsequently drove them from office.
The city’s 2,000 Jews were given a choice of undergoing baptism or being killed. About half of them accepted conversion or left the city; the remainder were barricaded in the Jewish cemetery and burned alive. Following this, the new town council passed an ordinance forbidding Jews from even entering Strasbourg for 200 years. Less than two decades later, however, the first Jews were allowed to return. By 1388, another order of banishment was imposed, and there is no evidence of Jews being present in the city, even as visitors, until 1520.
It was only after the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, with the Jews gone, that the plague arrived in Strasbourg. It killed an estimated 16,000 residents.
Statues from Strasbourg Cathedral (XIIIc), showing the allegorical figures of Ecclesia and Sinagoga.
Prayer: Today we commemorate a Christian saint who was martyred for his demonstration of the love of Yeshua, and whose name has become synonymous with the giving and receiving of romantic love. Lord, it is so tragic and ironic that the true self-sacrificing love of Yeshua should be turned into the words and deeds of medieval anti-Semitism, prejudice and violence against your people, your first love, Israel. Father, forgive and pardon, heal and reconcile, and renew in our day right relationships between Christians and Jews. Help Messianic Jews to be the true bridge between both communities – belonging to both, loving both, and helping to reconcile both. In Yeshua’s name we pray. Amen.
Sir George Jessel PC, FRS (13 February 1824 – 21 March 1883) was a preeminent British jurist, Master of the Rolls (1873–1883), and the first Jewish person to hold high judicial office in Britain. His 1873 appointment marked the end of the Domus Conversorum (House of Converts) concluding a 600-year history.
For the Messianic movement to succeed, we need, like the Jewish community as a whole, to lay a strong foundation of communal institutions. A social infrastructure is needed that will provide for our members at every stage of life, from birth, bar/bat mitzvah, betrothal burial So it is good to hear discussion and proposals for a “House of Discipleship” which will be available for Jewish believers in Yeshua needing care and discipleship on a residential basis. Although the project has a long way to go before becoming a reality, the idea is not a new one, and has a distinguished history in the annals of Messianic Judaism in this country.
“Houses of Discipleship” for Jewish believers in Jesus are not new. During the Second World War the Alliance and several Jewish missions were actively involved in providing refugees from Europe with new homes. Properties in Ramsgate, Chislehurst and elsewhere were purchased and used as orphanages, hostels and homes. Those who lived in them were provided with the care they needed, and for some, this involved education and training, as well as spiritual encouragement.
But the origins of the idea go back further than that, right back to medieval times. In 1232 Henry III established a Home for Converted Jews (Domus Conversorum) in what is now Chancery Lane in the City of London. This was modelled in similar institutions in Oxford and Greenwich, and was open to any Jewish person who had become a Christian.
The necessity for this was obvious. Those who became believers in Yeshua were often expelled from the Jewish community. They were without protection in a culture that was, to say the least, inhospitable. A further factor was that on conversion all their goods were forfeited to the crown, and they were forced to rely on royal patronage and protection. Henry III was the only European ruler who extended his protection to such people, providing residential accommodation for up to forty people, and living allowances of the not insignificant sum of one penny a day, plus clothing, to those living outside the home.
The home had its own organisation, being governed by a warden, with a chaplain appointed to maintain spiritual life and conduct regular services. According to the records, which may still be accessed from the Public Records Office, there were more than 100 residents from 1232 to 1290. In that year the Jewish community as a whole was expelled from England, only to be re-admitted in 1665. But Jewish converts were regarded as exceptions, and were allowed to stay. There are records of up to 80 people per year either living in the home or receiving the King’s allowance, and so for several hundred years there is an unbroken historical record of Jewish believers in Jesus.
A frequent accusation against Messianic Jews is that on becoming believers in Jesus we no longer choose to identity as Jews, and choose to assimilate. Yet these residents of theDomus Conversorum were the only visible representatives of the Jewish community in England for four hundred years, and they were never allowed to forget that they were both Jewish and Christian! They continued to sign their names in Hebrew, an indication that they were well-versed in their Jewish backgrounds, and frequently added the sign of the cross afterwards, to show their new faith. It is quite possible that William Shakespeare knew of them and their situation as he wrote his play, The Merchant of Venice.
The home provided protection many from Europe and the Barbary states, and was seen as a beacon of light in a sea of hostility. It also provided Christians with the opportunity to meet with Jewish people, and the interest in Hebrew studies that fuelled the Reformation can be linked to such contacts. The history of co-operation between Jewish scholars and the Reformers is important to note, as in the fields of biblical scholarship, printing and bible translation both Luther and Calvin were indebted to Jewish assistance.
The use of the home diminished after 1609, although several continued to receive pensions for the next 150 years. The office of Warden was combined with the judicial office of Master of the Rolls.
When Sir John Romilly was appointed Master of the Rolls in 1851, his patent of appointment professed to grant to him, for life, “the custody of the House, or Hospital, of Converts, for the habitation of the Keeper or Master of the Rolls, Books, Writs, and Records of the High Court of Chancery.”
This form of words did not appear when Sir George Jessel was appointed Master of the Rolls in 1873, or we should have had the remarkable paradox of a Jew holding the position of Keeper of the House for Converted Jews. As I have mentioned before, all trace of the Domus was abolished in 1891, except for the Chapel building, which is now part of Kings College Library. I will be leading walking tours to see it – see here
In 1891, on the appointment of the first Jewish Master of the Rolls, Lord Jessel, it was felt inappropriate that official responsibility for providing for Jewish Christians should be in the hands of a Jew who did not believe in Jesus, and the home was legally dissolved. It’s time we petitioned the Queen for another one!
Prayer: Thank you Lord, for this longstanding institution that provided a home and a haven for Jewish believers in Yeshua, despite the difficulties of the times in which they lived. Please raise up for us again similar testimonies of the Jewishness of Yeshua and of his followers, and provide home and shelter for those who call on the name of Yeshua for help and protection. In Yeshua’s name we pray. Amen.
Join us for a walk through Central London and the Jewish East End mapping the history of Jewish followers of Jesus from 1232 to the present day. We follow the route from the first Domus Conversorum (“Home of Converts”) established by King Henry III, to where the Beni Abraham (Sons of Abraham) met in 1813 in Spitalfields. We walk up Brick Lane, the heart of the historic Jewish East End. We visit the site of Palestine Place in Bethnal Green where hundreds of Jewish disciples of Jesus lived, worked and worshipped. We pass by Synagogues, Hebrew Christian institutions and famous Jewish landmarks, catching the flavour of the bustling East End of today.This tour is an ideal way to learn about the history of the Jewish people, Jewish-Christian relations and Jewish disciples of Jesus.
Details
Dates: May 3, 31, June 10 or contact us for upcoming dates (Midweek or Sundays on request – not all sites open on each date)
Duration: approx. 6 hours (including food stops and a tea debrief). Shorter tours of 1, 2 and 4 hours available.
Walking level: About 5 miles at relaxed pace; several short walks plus two short bus trips
Start: Chancery Lane underground station (Maughan Library)
Finish: Bethnal Green (near Town Hall Hotel / Cambridge Heath Road)/ or /Liverpool Street Station
Cost: pay-your-own food + TfL fares
Guide: Richard Harvey, PhD, student of Messianic Jewish history and theology
13.15 Stop 3: Christchurch Spitalfields (open Sundays and 10-3 Mondays/Tuesdays) for memorial plaques)
13.30 Stop 4: Beni Abraham (now Brick Lane Mosque)
14.00 Walk up Brick Lane (bookshop, Jewish buildings) and bus to Bethnal Green
14.45 Stop 5: Site of Palestine Place (and of Mildmay Mission to the Jews, Messianic Testimony, etc)
15:15–16:00 Tea + debrief (in Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel next to site of Palestine Place)
16:00 Close + onward travel – if travelling from Liverpool Street Station, Stop 6 – Kindertransport memorial
(We keep the pace gentle and allow time for questions, photos, and short pauses.)
The route stops
Stop 1 — Domus Conversorum (Chancery Lane / Maughan Library area)
What stood here and why it matters: The Domus Conversorum (founded 1232) was a dedicated institutional home for Jewish “converts” to Christianity—an early English attempt to formalise Jewish-Christian transition within the life of Church and Crown.
What remains / what you can see today: The medieval house is gone apart from an arch, but the chapel building in the Maughan Library, Kings College remains open as it became the headquarters of the Public Record Office, known as the ‘strong-box of the [British] Empire’
What stood here and why it matters: This district became a focal point for early 19th-century Hebrew Christian activity, and in the 1880s was surrounded by East European Jewish immigrants who created a vibrant Jewish life and culture in the East End. What remains / what you can see today: We stand in the lanes around Sandys Row Synagogue, the oldest Ashkenazi Synagogue in the United Kingdom, and many other buildings with Jewish and Messianic Jewish connections.
Stop 3 — Christ Church Spitalfields (Commercial Street)
What stood here and why it matters: Christ Church was an Anglican anchor in a neighbourhood repeatedly transformed by migration—Huguenot, Jewish, and later Bangladeshi. Inside the church (open Sundays) there are important plaques commemorating pioneers such as Lewis Way, Alexander McCaul and Michael Solomon Alexander What remains / what you can see today: The church’s towering presence speaks of the concern of Evangelicals in the 19th century to reach out with shelter, aid and witness, as it does today in the multicultural environment of the area.
What stood here and why it matters: This site, original a Huguenot church that could seat more than 1,000 people, was the site of the first gathering of Jewish followers of Jesus in modern times (access with permission) What remains / what you can see today: The building on Brick Lane is now a mosque, entry by permission. The exterior is unchanged.
Stop 5 — Palestine Place (Bethnal Green / Cambridge Heath Road area)
What stood here and why it matters: Palestine Place, headquarters of the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews (now CMJ) was the most significant 19th-century hub for Jewish missions and Hebrew Christian organisations—with a school, factory, residences and chapel in its grounds.
What remains / what you can see today: The original religious-and-institutional footprint is largely absorbed into later development, but we stand on the site and reconstruct what was here—and why it mattered—for the story of Messianic Jewish presence and witness in London.
Stop 6 — Kindertransport Memorial, Liverpool Street Station (Hope Square / main forecourt)
What stood here and why it matters: Liverpool Street was the arrival point for thousands of Kindertransport children (1938–39), and in my ongoing research I’m also tracing 200+ publicly documented cases of survivors and descendants who later identified as Jewish disciples of Jesus—showing how rescue, displacement, faith, and identity can converge across generations.
What remains / what you can see today: We stop at the Kindertransport memorial sculpture group (“Kindertransport – The Arrival”) on the station forecourt (Hope Square), and—time permitting—also point out the related “Für das Kind” memorial inside the station concourse.
Estimated costs (typical ranges)
TfL travel: usually Zones 1–2 for most of the day (depends on your starting point and taps)
Breakfast: ~£8–£15 (depending on choice)
Lunch: ~£5–£12 (depending on fillings/drinks)
Tea: ~£4–£10
Voluntary contribution
Suggested contribution:£20 per person (£10 concession) This supports research time, route development, and building a growing “Messianic Jewish London” resource base (maps, notes, and future tours). Food and travel are separate.
What to bring
Comfortable shoes + a light rain layer (this is London)
Contactless/Oyster for TfL
Water bottle
A notebook if you like capturing references and names
Curiosity—and a willingness to let the city tell the story slowly
Accessibility & pace
We walk at a moderate pace with frequent pauses. If you need a slower pace or more sitting breaks, tell me in advance and I’ll adjust the rhythm.
Tone, etiquette, and respect
This tour touches sensitive histories: Messianic Jewish identity, conversion, mission, contested memories, and multi-faith neighbourhood life. We approach the day with truthfulness, humility, and respect—especially around active places of worship and local communities.
As “On this day in Messianic Jewish history” steps into its 12th year, with 750+ posts behind us, I’m grateful for a growing community of readers who care about the often-hidden story of Jewish followers of Yeshua—past, present and future. We trace significant events, people, institutions, and turning points, asking: How have the histories of the Church and the Jewish people shaped Jewish expressions of faith in Yeshua? And how do those legacies shape the contemporary Messianic movement today? How do Jewish disciples of Yeshua impact Jewish-Christian relations, the communities of the Church and Israel, and the realities of the world we live in?
Looking back on 2025
Israel-Gaza War
This past year has been marked by grief, uncertainty, and strain—especially under the long shadow of the Israel–Gaza war, and the way it has deepened fear, polarisation, and pain across communities. At the same time, we have also seen signs of growth and maturation in the global Messianic movement: more visibility, more serious theological work, more congregational stability in some places, and a renewed sense that Jewish faithfulness to Yeshua must be lived with integrity, humility, and responsibility.
Bondi Beach attack – Chanucah 2025
Yet alongside these developments has been a sharp reminder that the question of the Jewish people’s safety is never abstract. Antisemitism has continued to increase in the UK, and events such as the Manchester Synagogue attack on Yom Kippur have left many shaken and watchful. And beyond the UK, the horror of violence against Jews—such as the reported Bondi Beach attack in Sydney during Chanukkah—has again shown how quickly celebration can be turned into terror. In such a climate, “remembering” (zikaron) is a spiritual discipline and an act of communal faithfulness. We call to mind the Almighty’s faithfulness to Israel, the covenant that is not revoked, and the promised renewal of all creation.
An exchange of support: 1 January 1897
Hudson Taylor, dressed in Chinese costume – a radical step in contextualisation
As we begin this New Year, we remember a small but significant act of faithfulness that still speaks powerfully today—between Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China and leader of the China Inland Mission, and John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews in London.
John Wilkinson, supporter of the early Messianic Movement
On the first day of each year, Hudson Taylor sent a donation to Wilkinson’s mission, writing on the cheque: “To the Jew first.” And Wilkinson, moved by this gesture, responded in kind—sending his own cheque to Taylor’s work with the words: “And also to the Gentile.”
Mrs Hudson Taylor records that this “helpful interchange of sympathy” continued year after year, with each later doubling the amount. It was more than polite philanthropy. It was a living parable of Romans 1:16—not as a slogan, but as a shared commitment to honour the Almighty’s purposes for Israel and the nations, each refusing to boast over or replace the other.
Not everyone has accepted Romans 1:16 as implying an ongoing covenantal, ecclesial, eschatological and missional priority. But whatever one’s framing, this much remains unavoidable: followers of Yeshua have a responsibility toward the Jewish people that includes repentance, reconciliation, practical solidarity, and clear, humble witness to Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel and Lord of all nations.
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English Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as we enter this new year, crown it with Your goodness. Strengthen Your people Israel; comfort the grieving; protect the vulnerable; and turn hearts from hatred. Teach us to walk in humility and truth, to seek peace with justice, and to bear faithful witness to Yeshua the Messiah. Bless this work of remembrance, that many may see Your faithfulness across the generations. In Yeshua’s name, Amen.
Transliteration Ribbono shel olam, anachnu nichnasim le-shanah chadashah—atter otah be-tuvecha. Chazek et amcha Yisrael; nachem et ha-avelim; shmor al ha-chalashim; ve-hashev levavot mi-sin’ah. Lammedenu la-lechet ba’anavah u-ve’emet, levakesh shalom im tzedek, u-leha’id be’emunah al Yeshua ha-Mashiach. Barech et melechet ha-zikaron ha-zot, lema’an yera’eh ne’emanutcha be-khol dor va-dor. B’Shem Yeshua, amen.
The details are recorded by Mrs Hudson Taylor here:
And her last gift to the Rev. John Wilkinson expressed the deepest interest in his work among the Jews. Work among God’s ancient people occupied a special place in the prayerful sympathy of both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ; and Mr. John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, recalled an interesting phase of their long friendship. Taking advantage of a New Year’s Day spent at home (1897), Mr. Taylor went round to Mr. Wilkinson’s house with a brotherly note enclosing a gift for the Mission. ” To the Jew first,” were the words with which the cheque was accompanied. Mr. Wilkinson’s warm heart was touched, and he immediately wrote a brotherly reply, enclosing his own cheque for the same amount, with the words : ” And also to the Gentile.” This helpful interchange of sympathy was kept up ever after, the only change being that each doubled the amount of their contribution.
On this day Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley (born Sampson Gideon, 10 Oct 1744), died in Brighton. A banker-politician of Jewish descent who became a Tory MP (1770–1802) and Irish peer (1789), Eardley was also a notable early patron of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews (LSPCJ, today CMJ). He donated the organ for the new Episcopal Jews’ Chapel at Palestine Place, Bethnal Green—opened in July 1814 as the first purpose-built place of worship in Britain for Jewish disciples of Yeshua.
Eardley’s story embodies the complex crossings of Jewish ancestry, Anglican establishment, and evangelical mission in Georgian Britain. His support for Palestine Place linked elite philanthropy to the emerging Hebrew-Christian (proto-Messianic Jewish) movement and helped root a dedicated worshipping community in London’s East End. The wider project took visible shape when the Duke of Kent laid the foundation stone of Palestine Place on 7 April 1813, before a crowd of more than 20,000 people; the chapel opened the following year, with Lewis Way, the main financial backer, also present.
Early photo of Palestine Place
Born Sampson Gideon, son of the Sephardi financier Sampson Gideon (1699–1762), he was educated at Tonbridge and Eton and was created a baronet in 1759 while still a schoolboy; later he took the surname Eardley and was raised to the Irish peerage as Baron Eardley in 1789, being elected FRS the same year. He sat in Parliament (1770–1802) for Cambridgeshire, Midhurst, Coventry, and Wallingford, and in civic and fraternal life served as Provincial Grand Master for the Cambridgeshire Freemasons from 1796. He died on 25 December 1824, and the monument in Erith to his father also records his death.
Monument to Eardley and his father at St John the Baptist Church, Erith
Palestine Place & the Jews’ Chapel
Screenshot
The LSPCJ established Palestine Place as its Bethnal Green hub with chapel, schools, printing office, and residences. The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Kent (1813); the chapel opened July 1814. Contemporary and later histories note that the chapel contained an organ donated by Lord Eardley—a tangible sign of aristocratic backing for a dedicated congregation of Jewish Christians.
Hundreds, if not thousands, passed through the schools and factories, leading Jewish institutions such as JFS (the Jewish Free School) to follow its example. Boys, girls, young men and women learned English, trades and professions, some also becoming disciples of Yeshua.
Eardley’s renowned generosity to both Jewish and Christian causes, and his willingness to identify as Jewish despite the antisemitic attitudes of his day, mark him as a pioneer in the modern movement of Jewish disciples of Jesus, as as an example of generosity and willingness to support others less fortunate. May we echo his example today.
Brick from original buildings – Photo – Richard Harvey
Prayer (English) God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we thank You for the legacy of Lord Sampson Eardley— for his generosity toward Jewish believers in Jesus and his support for worship and witness at Palestine Place. Let the good he began bear fruit in our day: strengthen congregations, raise up faithful servants, and deepen love and peace between the Church and the people of Israel. May his memory inspire courage, compassion, and steadfast hope. In the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Amen.
History of Parliament biography: “Eardley (formerly Gideon), Sampson (1745–1824).” (Context on his political career and reputation.) (Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire)
Wikipedia overview (useful dates and offices; cross-check with primary refs). (Wikipedia)
Curtis, R. “Evangelical Anglican Missionaries and the London Jews’ Society: Palestine Place at Bethnal Green…” Jewish Historical Studies (2019). (On 1813–14 building/opening.) (UCL Press Journals)
Michael Darby, chapter on the emergence of the Hebrew Christian movement (notes the organ donated by Lord Eardley). (Brill)
Every December, the question returns with predictable force: Was Yeshua really born on December 25? A widely shared video (circulating again this year) promises an answer “hiding in plain sight” in seven clues—census logistics, shepherds in the fields, the star, Herod, Zechariah’s priestly course, Tabernacles, and the start of Yeshua’s ministry.
As Messianic Jews, we share this instinct. We want the story to “lock” into the mo‘adim, the appointed times; we hear John’s claim that the Word “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14) and we instinctively think of Sukkot – the Feast of Tabernacles. There is nothing wrong with letting the feasts form our imagination. The problem comes when we turn typology into a timetable, and devotion into a date.
Historical scholarship—Jewish, Christian, and secular—does not yield a “true date” of Yeshua’s birth in the sense the video claims. It can, at best, offer a probable range of years and then confess (with some humility) that the month and day are not recoverable from our sources.
What we can say with some confidence: the year is a range
Most reconstructions begin where Matthew begins: “in the days of Herod the king.” (Matthew 2:1). That pushes us into the final years of Herod the Great. A long-standing scholarly majority places Herod’s death in 4 BCE, and in that case Yeshua’ birth must be earlier (often placed roughly 6–4 BCE, depending on how one correlates other data).
But even here, caution is warranted. The date of Herod’s death is debated, with a serious minority arguing for 1 BCE, which (if adopted) shifts the window.
So the first “hidden clue” the video treats as settled (“Herod died in 4 BC, therefore…”) is already sitting on contested ground.
The census and the shepherds: plausible impressions, not chronological proof
The video’s opening move is rhetorical: “The Romans wouldn’t do a winter census; therefore Yeshua wasn’t born in winter.” Yet Luke’s census note is one of the most contested chronological features in the infancy narratives. There is ongoing debate over what Luke is doing historically and literarily with the Quirinius reference, and recent journal work argues Luke’s census motif may be doing theological signalling as much as (or more than) administrative dating.
Likewise, “shepherds in the fields” is regularly pressed into service as if it were a weather report. But as Andrew Steinmann has recently argued in detail, several favourite “data points” (including appeals to shepherding practice and priestly-course math) simply cannot bear the weight placed upon them when people try to deduce a specific birth date from them.
None of this means the video’s intentions are wicked or foolish. It means they are overconfident. The move from “December is unlikely” to “therefore September/October is proved” is a leap over a chasm of assumptions.
The priestly courses: a clock with missing gears
The most “technical” part of the video is the claim that Zechariah’s division (Abijah) (Luke 1:5) lets us calculate John’s conception in June, then Yeshua’s conception six months later, then Yeshua’s birth nine months after that—landing neatly in September/October, conveniently near Sukkot.
This is attractive because it feels mathematical. But the “math” depends on what we do not have: a securely reconstructible priestly rotation for a particular year, mapped cleanly onto the calendar, with no disruptions and no uncertainties. This is precisely the kind of argument Steinmann cautions against: it sounds like precision, but it is precision purchased on credit. To reconcile Jewish calendars (Pharisees, Sadducees, Josephus, etc) is a major challenge for Jewish and Christian scholars.
“Tabernacled among us”: glorious theology, not a hidden timestamp
Here the video is at its most homiletically compelling: John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and “dwelt” among us—eskēnōsen, “tabernacled.” Surely, then, Yeshua was born at Sukkot?
As proclamation, this sings. As proof, it fails. John is not writing a calendar; he is announcing that the God of Israel has pitched his tent in the midst of his people in the Messiah. The word is chosen for theological density, not because John is whispering a date to readers willing to do enough arithmetic.
David Ford’s new commentary – highly recommended!
In other words: Sukkot is a beautiful lens for the incarnation. It is not a reliable anchor for chronology.
December 25 and Sol Invictus: the “pagan takeover” story is too neat
The video repeats the common claim: the idea that the date of December 25 for Christmas was intentionally chosen to overwrite or appropriate the Roman festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unconquered Sun). This is a subject of historical debate, with many modern scholars arguing against it
Yes, the Chronography of 354 is a key witness for what Rome was marking in late antiquity, including December 25 traditions.
But the relationship between Christian dating and solar festivals is not a simple one-way “replacement.” Steven Hijmans has argued that the evidential basis for the popular “Sol Invictus → Christmas” storyline is often thinner than people assume.
And C. Philipp E. Nothaft has shown that early Christian calendrical reasoning (computistical traditions and symbolic chronologies) is part of the story—so that “pagan borrowing” is not the only, nor necessarily the best, explanation.
So where does that leave us?
A Messianic Jewish way of holding the question
We can say, without embarrassment: the New Testament does not tell us the date, and responsible history cannot fabricate what the sources do not give.
We can also say: it is entirely possible that Yeshua was born in the autumn. It is also possible he was not. The point is not to banish the question, but to refuse false certainty. The real issue is not ‘when was he born?’ but ‘is he truly the Messiah?’
And we can say something more Jewish still: the feasts are not primarily an escape-room puzzle. They are God’s gift of time—training Israel (and through Israel, the nations) to inhabit the world as worship. If Sukkot helps you adore the mystery that God has drawn near and “camped” among us in Yeshua, then receive that as grace. Just don’t turn it into an internet-proof that condemns other believers for celebrating on December 25.
Because the deepest “precision” here is not the date, but the faithfulness: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Gal 4:4). Fullness is not the same thing as a timestamp.
English: Happy Christmas – the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah Yeshua!
חַג שָׂמֵחַ לְחַג הוּלֶדֶת הַמָּשִׁיחַ יֵשׁוּעַ!
Chag sameach le-chag huledet ha-Mashiach Yeshua!
Prayer
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, give us love for truth without pride, and zeal without the need to win. Teach us to honour your appointed times without forcing them to say what you have not said. Let the light of Messiah shine in our homes this season—whenever we mark it—and make us gentle witnesses to the One who came near. Amen.
Shabbat Miketz / Chanukkah: Light, Covenant, and the Courage to Remain Human
On this day, Jews gathered on Bondi Beach in Sydney for a public Chanukkah celebration—families, songs, candles, the ordinary joy of being visibly Jewish in the open air. Instead, the gathering was shattered by a targeted antisemitic terror attack. Reports describe multiple gunmen, many injured, and at least fifteen killed, with acts of courage in the chaos that likely saved lives. Victims include Rabbi Eli Schanger (who was born in London), Matilda, a ten year old girl, a Holocaust survivor from Ukraine, and an Israeli human rights activist.
For those of us reading from far away, the miles are real—but Jewish solidarity goes deeper than geography. Our solidarity becomes a deeply painful reality: כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲרֵבִים זֶה בָּזֶה (kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh), “all Israel are bound up with one another” in responsibility and in grief.
Chanukkah is often told as a simple story of light defeating darkness. But Jewish memory won’t let us sentimentalise. The candle does not abolish the night; it refuses to let night have the last word. We add light gradually over the eight days: one flame, then another—not because darkness is absent, but because hope is learned in increments.
This coming week’s Torah portion, Miketz (Genesis 41), opens with Pharaoh’s nightmares—visions of famine, scarcity and fear. Joseph’s gift is not only interpretation, but the move from dread to discernment, from paralysis to preparation. In the wake of Bondi, we should not rush past mourning. But Jewish faith also insists that grief must become a strengthening: protecting life (pikuach nefesh), tending the wounded, guarding communal spaces wisely, and making room again for public joy.
On Shabbat this Chanukkah we hear Zechariah’s menorah vision: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). The purposes of the Almighty cannot be achieved by hatred mirrored back, nor by fear enthroned over our imagination. The Spirit’s way is not weakness; it is the courage to remain human when humanity is being assaulted.
For those of us who confess Yeshua while remaining bound to Israel’s covenantal life, this day tests our discipleship and our solidarity with our people. Antisemitic violence is not only an attack on individuals; it is an assault on Israel’s calling and election —on a people called to live before the Almighty and before the nations as “a light to the nations” (Or La-Goyim /אוֹר לַגּוֹיִים ). The public menorah—on a beach in Sydney or in a window in London—becomes a quiet testimony: we exist, we bless, we endure. And for the Church, there can be no “neutrality” here: if the nations are grafted into Israel’s nourishing root (Romans 11), then Jewish pain cannot be treated as an optional footnote.
So today we name evil plainly—antisemitic terror is not “tension” or “spillover.” And we practise disciplined compassion: mourning must not become permission to dehumanise. We check in on Jewish neighbours and friends; we support the grieving and the traumatised; we strengthen security without surrendering our concern for justice, peace and resolution of conflict. And we light the menorah to shed light in the midst of darkness, reminding us of Yeshua, the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5)
Master of the universe, comfort the mourners, heal the wounded, and hold the traumatised close. Strengthen Jewish communities in Sydney, across Australia, and everywhere Jews gather in public to bless Your Name. Give wisdom to those who protect, courage to those who feel afraid, and compassion that does not harden into hatred. Teach us to live kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh—faithful in responsibility, steadfast in hope, and brave enough to remain human. In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, Prince of Peace. Amen.
In this week’s unprecedented ecumenical moment in Rome, King Charles III of Great Britain and Pope Leo XIV stood and prayed together. This moment in the Sistine Chapel was the first joint act of worship between an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since the 16th century—set amid the Vatican’s commemorations for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (28 Oct 1965).
Nostra Aetate (“in our time”) expressed a ground-breaking change in the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people. Jews were no longer to be seen as perfidious “Christ-killers”, hypocrites, self-justifying “Pharisees”, money-lovers, guilty of the crime of deicide, but as “elder brothers”, “beloved for the sake of the fathers” and continuing covenant-partners with the Almighty, whose “gifts and calling are irrevocable”. So much has changed, but there is still much work to be done.
Since the 1965 declaration, a flood of new teaching on how to read the Scriptures, relate to the Jewish people and navigate the complexities of the Vatican’s relationship with the State of Israel has emerged. Especially noteworthy of how the Catholic-Jewish relationship has matured is the 2015 reflection, The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable, which urges Jews and Christians to be a blessing together through humanitarian action and stewardship of creation. “One ancestor, one family, many nations, many religions—but one humanity,” it stressed—then named the practical work of dialogue, service, and learning side-by-side.
A needed next step: include Messianic Jews in the dialogue
As Jewish–Christian relations enter a seventh decade after Nostra Aetate, a crucial but challenging next step is to welcome Messianic Jews to this conversation. Their presence helps both Jews and Christians alike to grapple theologically—and charitably—with the ongoing Jewish confession of Yeshua within the people of Israel. The Vatican’s anniversary events and the royal visit generate a rare public window to highlight this need clearly and constructively.
A timely resource for this very conversation is the new volume edited by Jan-Heiner Tück, Mark S. Kinzer, and Thomas Schumacher (with James Earle Patrick). Originating in a Vienna (2022) symposium under Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the book gathers Messianic Jewish and Christian theologians to ask how the Jewish confession of Yeshua belongs within the Church’s self-understanding and Israel’s story. Contributors include, among others, R Kendall Soulen, David Rudolph and Markus Tiwald—with essays and responses that press beyond supersessionism toward covenantal partnership. The collection’s significance lies in modelling a conversation between Messianic Jews, Catholic and Protestant theologians, and Jewish Catholics, with academic rigour and ecclesial sensitivity and inter-confessional sensitivity.
Prayer
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, You make peace and build the world in mercy. Teach us the way of peace between Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Christians, and all humanity – made in Your image
Bless King Charles and Pope Leo, and all spiritual leaders, to work together for justice, compassion, and care of creation. Open a richer dialogue between Jews and Christians, and bring Messianic Jews to the table as faithful witnesses to Israel’s hope. May we be a blessing to the world. Amen.
Barekh et ha-Melekh Charles ve-et ha-Apifiyor Leo, ve-et kol ha-manhigim ha-ruḥaniyim, la‘avod yaḥad le-ma‘an tzedek, raḥamim u-shemirat ha-beriyah. Petaḥ dialog ‘ashir yoter bein Yehudim ve-Notzrim, ve-have et ha-Yehudim ha-Meshiḥiyim el ha-shulḥan ke-edim ne’emanim le-tikvat Yisra’el. Ve-yehi ratzon she-niheyeh berakhah la-‘olam. Amen.
Sources & further reading
Rabbi Alexandra Wright, Parashat Noaḥ: King Charles, Pope Leo and the Sixtieth Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, sermon at LJS, 25 Oct 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSnMFQDwH8Q and transcript here
Reuters: King Charles and Pope Leo pray together in Sistine Chapel (23 Oct 2025). (Reuters)
Vatican News/Press and USCCB coverage of the royal visit and ecumenical prayer. (Vatican News)
Vatican Press Office: Nostra Aetate 60th events this week in Rome. (press.vatican.va)
Jesus — the Messiah of Israel? Messianic Judaism and Christian Theology in Conversation (Crossroad, 1 Oct 2025): catalog listings and description; Vienna symposium background; sample contributors. (Amazon)
