“For he [Yeshua] himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:14-15).
Many Christians believe that the ‘dividing wall’ that Yeshua destroyed is the Torah, the instructions of God found in the first five books of the Bible. The Torah is not, nor ever was destroyed by Yeshua. ‘Setting aside in his flesh the law’, he destroyed the man-made regulations that separated men and women, Jew and gentile, and slave and free from worshiping the God of Israel in Spirit and in Truth.
The Kotel or the Western Wall area still has dividing walls today. There is an ‘outer court’ barrier between those who are just visiting as tourists (in the foreground) and an ‘inner court’ barrier between men and women (down the center). And according to some man-made regulations, reading a Torah scroll by women is still forbidden.
When I was at the Western Wall on the Shabbat, I wondered why the men were dancing in circles and praising God with loud voices, but the women were not. I asked some young women who were studying at a yeshiva (school for religious study) in Jerusalem. I was told that ‘only men dance’. I asked why they could not praise God through the dance. Were they not joyful too? It was the Shabbat after all! They didn’t know the answer.
Fifteen minutes later these same women had a circle within a circle within a circle of 50-60 women dancing while singing the Psalms from their prayer books. I joined one circle with a Swedish woman and we listened to these women’s voices beautifully harmonize the Psalms in Hebrew. Together as women, Jew and gentile, we worshiped just like the men (my husband was dancing with them). This is the ‘one new man’ for which Yeshua gave his life. This is the unity of worship the God of Israel desires between His chosen people and the nations. Someday, when the gentiles come to their fullness of their calling, this will be the testimony of Yeshua for the world.
We visited The Kotel multiple times during our visit. We noticed that most Christian tourists, those who most likely believe the ‘dividing wall’ was destroyed by Yeshua, actually stay behind the ‘outer court’ barrier rather than approach the Western Wall to pray with the brothers and sisters of Yeshua. By remaining behind the barrier (and taking photos), these Christians still believe a barrier exists and lose the opportunity to make Israel envious for their own Messiah. I will never forget my Shabbat dancing at the Western Wall. While discussing dancing with those young women, I also had the opportunity to talk to them about Yeshua, the very reason they should be joyous on the Shabbat at the Western Wall. Their salvation has come!
©2015 Tentstake Ministries Publishing, all rights reserved. No copying or reproducing of this article without crediting the author or Tentstake Ministries Publishing.