Shabbat Shalom!
You are welcome here!
Hope of Israel is a place where people can learn about Yeshua (Jesus), engage in life-giving community and everyone is welcome! Upon arrival, you will be greeted by our Shalom team with a hearty, “Shabbat Shalom” (Sabbath Peace).
Our sabbath service begins at 11:00am on Saturdays. Be sure to arrive on time so you don’t miss our welcome and announcements so you can stay updated on our community activities and events.
We do lock the doors once the service begins and one of our team will gladly open the door for you if you arrive late. We will ask that you wait until the Shema and other prayers are concluded to not disturb worship.
What to wear?
Our Services
Our Shabbat (Sabbath) service is Biblically focused and in a Jewish context. We begin with a call to worship, a short message on the weekly Torah parish (midrash), a time of both congregational and traditional prayers (Shema Israel from Deuteronomy 6:4-9), a time of worship with contemporary Messianic music as well as traditional Jewish songs in both English and Hebrew, a blessing over the children and a biblically focused message (drash/sermon). We conclude our time together with a Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohenim from Numbers 6:23-27). During special holidays such as Rosh Hashanah we bring out our Torah scroll for a special Torah service.
Celebrating Sukkot
During Sukkot, our congregation erects a Sukkah and celebrates the faithfulness of God with food and fellowship.
Reading from our Torah Scroll
Our Annual Purim Play
The story of Esther is acted out by our amazing youth!
Our Elder Maynard Keller explains why we use Hebrew in our services, and expounds upon a portion of the book of the Prophet Isaiah 52:13-53:12.
Our Music
We are blessed to enjoy a variety of music from contemporary God honoring songs to traditional Jewish/Israeli songs in Hebrew and English. Feel free to join in singing as much as you feel comfortable. We customarily stand during the worship time, but if this is difficult or unfamiliar for you, do not feel obligated to participate. Please refrain from playing musical instruments such as tambourines, shofars or dancing during worship as these are resolved for those who are a part of our worship and Israeli/Davidic dance team.
Our Davidic Dance Team
Davidic dance is an Israeli folk-style worship dance rooted in ancient steps and scriptural teachings.
The dance, known for traditional steps like “Hava Nagila,” unites Jew and Gentile in praise of Messiah Yeshua. Scripturally inspired by David’s dance in 2 Samuel 6 and various forms of praise in the Psalms, it incorporates specific physical actions.
Open to all, Saturday morning services often feature a dance circle led by a designated leader. While modest dress is emphasized, silk wrap skirts are available for female dancers as garments of praise.
Children and Youth
Children’s Torah Classes are available on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays each month for ages 3 years old through 5th grade. A cry room is available for parents to take their infants and toddlers should they get restless, noisy or need attention. We are using the Messianic Kids curriculum for our classes. Bar and Bat Mitzvah is available for teens and and a teen forum is available.
B’nai Mitzvah Program
Paul Burton Campbell is our B’nei Mitzvah Coordinator and we use the Crossroads B’nei Mitzvah Program as our curriculum.
The use of Hebrew in our services
While many other languages have been crucial in the life and history of the Jewish people (like Greek, Aramaic, Yiddish, and even English), Hebrew has always remained with the Jewish people, even when it was not a living conversational language.
So, in a sense, the Hebrew language itself symbolized the commitment God has toward the Jewish people from generation to generation. That said, it is important that people pray and worship with understanding. Hence, the English translation is given along with the Hebrew.
Our Name
The Hope of Israel (Tikvat Israel) refers to the Lord of the Messianic hope of redemption and is also an ancient name for Yeshua (Jesus) as in Jeremiah 14:8
Bringing Food to our Celebrations!
Our community events involving potlucks are Biblically kosher in style, which means we do not serve pork or shellfish. For more details regarding Biblical food see Leviticus 11.