Liberty’s Stand with Israel club hosts traditional Shabbat dinner for Sukkot

Guests enjoyed chicken, rice, salad, pumpkin pie and Challah bread and heard from missionaries to Israel at a Shabbat dinner Oct. 18. The traditional Jewish meal, hosted by the Stand with Israel club on campus, was located in the LU Shepherd Office on the Hill
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Participants sat on couches or around a rustic piano and conversed until the festivities began. Keith Jennings, graduate student and interim president of Liberty’s Stand with Israel chapter, opened the event by discussing the importance of Israel to the world and what the club does.

Jennings said the three main ways Stand with Israel seeks to make an impact are biblically, culturally and politically.

The club strives to show biblical context for “covenant theology and eschatology,” Jennings said. By raising awareness for Old Testament theology and how it impacts the context of everyday life, the club wants to show how Israel “fits into the world.”

Israel has many cultural facets that the world overlooks, according to Jennings. It has a rich culture of feasts and holidays, and in the scientific world, the country has made strides with its own water reclamation program. Save a Child’s Heart, a medical organization based in Israel, flies children to Tel Aviv and performs heart surgeries for free.

“(That program wants) to help anyone and everyone,”
Jennings said.

Jennings also informed the audience on the political beginnings of Stand with Israel. The club was started to “inform the public and legislature of how they can have an impact on Israel” and was brought to Liberty by members of the Student Government Association, Jennings said.

BJ Kerstetter, a missionary with Chosen People Ministries, stood up to speak about his ministry and outreach. According to his research, around 99% of Jewish people do not believe the New Testament Gospel. His ministry’s goal is to “educate Christians about the Jewish foundation of the Bible” and equip them to serve.

“God loves Israel, and he wants to see them saved,”
Kerstetter said.

As the participants gathered around a long wooden table, Kerstetter reached for a pamphlet and told the history of Shabbat and the festival of Sukkot, which was ongoing at the time of this article.

Since Shabbat is the Sabbath, a Shabbat dinner includes the last meal on Friday and two meals on Saturday. As Kerstetter explained the significance of the meal, he recited a blessing over grape juice and Challah bread.

Sukkot, he explained, is the Feast of Tabernacles. This holiday lasts seven days around the world (eight days in Jerusalem) and is full of merriment, fellowship and food. Traditionally, Jewish men construct temporary tents for the family to “eat, sleep and dwell in” and thank God for the “harvest, protection and faithfulness.”

Kerstetter said Jewish holidays in the Old Testament are prophetic. Sukkot looks forward to the Millennial Kingdom, where there will be feasting and celebration in Heaven like there is on earth during that holiday.

After the home-cooked dinner, members of the Stand with Israel club cleaned up plates as guests continued to talk.

Rachael Barnes, a transfer junior at Liberty, said she attended the first Shabbat dinner held earlier in the year and was immediately drawn to the club. A Messianic Jew, she wanted to join Stand with Israel so she could serve others, learn more about her Jewish heritage and be held accountable in keeping the Sabbath.

“A lot of people don’t understand the Old Testament (in accordance with the New Testament),” she said. “People think, ‘oh, I just need to read the New Testament and not the Old,’ but that is not true. Having this club will raise awareness.”

Barnes volunteers with Chosen People Ministries for CSER credit and loves the service. She is grateful for the opportunity to share the Gospel with her own people group.

“Jesus came for the Jews, then the Gentiles,” she said.

At the conclusion of the event, Jennings reiterated the impact Stand with Israel has on the world. He was grateful to Liberty for hosting them and hopes to see a tremendous impact on campus.

“Liberty trains Champions and leaders. We’d like to see them lead with an accurate view of Israel,” Jennings said.

For more information on Liberty’s chapter of Stand with Israel, check out their Facebook page.