Little by little, over the past few decades but growing more and more over the past few years, a community of activists in the Christian-Jewish engagement space has developed, with people reaching out to each other to promote fraternity and humanitarian projects in and between the Christian and Jewish communities.
In 2020, the organization I run, Root Source, together with friends at Israel365, initiated Bridgebuilders: Top Activists in Christian-Jewish Engagement, honoring seventy of these trailblazers. https://root-source.com/bridgebuilders/
In this monthly column, we will focus on one of these leaders and share an interview with her or him, hearing how they got to where they are today, learning about some of their projects, and thinking about what God is doing with regard to Jewish-Christian relations.
We encourage you to reply! Leave a comment below or send us an email at bridgebuilders@root-source.com.
This month’s bridgebuilders: Sydney Hewitt
from Torah Life Group, McKinney, Texas, USA
What is the main focus of your activities today?
leading our Torah Life Group in McKinney and promoting my weekly Torah lessons found on my website at www.sydneyhewitt.com, and promoting my new Journal Devotional book on the 54 portions of God’s beloved Torah!
Keeping up with the pace of Gidon Ariel and Root Source is my weekly workout as an advisory board member for his organization. I am committed to the vision of Root Source, as a bridge builder for Jewish ~ Christian friendship and engagement.
How long have you been doing that?
I have studied Torah and Hebrew since 2012 and led Torah since 2017.
I met Gidon in 2018 and have been involved with Root Source ever since.
My book was written in 2017–2018 and published in December 2021!
My website presence was developed last year and is growing with subscribers who seek Torah lessons for everyday life!
What are some of the successful related programs or projects that you have done this year and in past years?
Retired from private school ownership in North Texas; mentored four couples; author of blended family studies for our church; served as a board member for a local nonprofit agency; women’s leadership and Bible study leader
How did you get to where you are today?
by the grace of God.
What is your “testimony”?
In the spring of 2013, I was invited to begin studying the Torah with a small group of Christian friends from our church in the north Texas area. I was filled with zeal from the first lesson to dig deeply into the Scriptures, seeking new understanding. By immersing in the Old Covenant writings while learning and using as many Hebrew words as possible to illuminate the teachings, eyes, and ears were opened to the deep things of Adonai and His beloved nation of Israel. We immersed ourselves weekly in a supernatural synergy flowing between the Old and New Covenants.
We learned about church history and how Emperor Constantine and other key members of the first Ecumenical Council (Council of Nicaea) intentionally tore away the Jewish foundation of faith from the new church, blending what was left with bits of pagan mythology. Learning the historical perspective of why our experience with Biblical study was narrow and limited in our Christian churches, we came to understand the call upon our lives to dive into deeper truths in the Books of Moses using Adonai’s language, calendar, commandments, and the appointed holy times of the Lord like arrows to hit the mark for our faith.
The ancient missing remnant of the tapestry of Torah tells of the heavenly blueprint of the lives of the Patriarchs, the historical perspective of the Nation of Israel, and Adonai’s Holy Appointed Times such as Shabbat, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. By immersing ourselves in the Hebrew language of the Bible while joining the journey through the wilderness with the Nation of Israel, our intimacy with the Lord sprouted new roots deep into the restored remnant of the tapestry of His truth.
I believe the reason I am here on this beautiful blue planet is to repair what I can. I believe Adonai recognized one who would take up the needle and thread for the kingdom, doing what I might to repair the tear in the tapestry made by Constantine in 324 A.D. In so doing, I have taken up the banner of Israel for today. I was blessed to tour Israel in 2015, starting on the island of Patmos and making several sacred stops before ending in Jerusalem. I accept a call upon my life to bless the nation of Israel in as many ways as possible. One such way is by providing friendship to ministries that bring Christians and Jews together, such as Root Source. Blessings from my life flow into Israel and bless the nation, including an open invitation to all who will come into the glory of Torah, where they will meet the Nation of Israel and fall in love in a fresh, new way with Adonai and His covenant people.
What do you think God is doing with regard to Jewish-Christian relations?
fulfilling Biblical prophetic plans of a full restoration for Israel as a nation and a people, and through this restoration, all the world will be blessed.
