Congregation Avodat
Yisrael is a Messianic Jewish community that:
Cultivates devotion to God lived out through worship,
education, and community service.
Avodat Yisrael - A Community of Prayer
Avodat Yisrael seeks to be a welcoming community where
people from a variety of religious backgrounds can feel
at home. Our worship services are designed to strike a
balance between broader Jewish worship traditions and our
congregation's religious convictions. As a blended and
inclusive community, we seek to cultivate a positive place
for interfaith couples and people from the wider Jewish
community.
As a congregation, we believe our name says a lot about who
we are as a community. We are a community of prayer. Our
name (Avodat Yisrael - Service
of Israel) comes from the Avodah
blessing in the Shemoneh Esreh:
May you always desire the Service of
Israel your people.
Our name - Avodat Yisrael -
refers, first and foremost, to our service of God. As it
says in Deuteronomy 11:13, the Jewish people are called
"to serve God with all your heart." One midrash
on this verse understands this service of the heart as
prayer; "What is service with all your heart? It is
prayer" (Sifré Deuteronomy).
The word Avodah appears
repeatedly throughout the Torah with reference to Israel's
worship of God (for example, Exodus 3:12). As a community,
our prayer life is rooted in the prayer life of Israel.
Our worship draws from diverse liturgical traditions of
ancient Israel and takes spiritual expression in
contemporary life. Prayer defines who we are
as a community. In worship, we identify with Israel today
and throughout history.
Our name - Avodat Yisrael -
refers to our service of Israel within the wider Jewish
community. Worship is the place where:
- We identify with the wider Jewish
world.
- We cultivate positive commitments to
the ongoing life of our people.
- We educate ourselves and our children
about the values of our community lived out in prayer
and in our sacred texts.
- We contribute to the cultivation of
Jewish life and invite our community to participate.
Our name - Avodat Yisrael -
refers to Israel's service in the world. In worship we,
as a community, locate ourselves in the life of the wider
world. Our faith, texts, and traditions guide how we live.
Through this sacred heritage we envision what the Kingdom
of God looks like.
The Kingdom vision leads us to pursue our calling to work
for Tikkun Olam, the repair of
a broken world. Through our journey of spiritual discovery,
we are transformed by God for a life of service in our
community and the wider world.
Our name - Avodat Yisrael -
refers to Yeshua's service, as Israel's Servant and High
Priest, to God and the world. As it says in a letter to
a group of first century Messianic Jews,
For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place . . .
heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf
in the very presence of God. (Hebrews 9:24)
[Excerpted
from Darche Tefillah: The Prayer Guide of Avodat Yisrael>
]
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