Greetings! HaShem Sheli (השם שלי) my name is Levi Avi'el (לוי אביאל) ben Avraham (Hebrew)אברהם בן Adrian Peterson (English).
I'm not Jewish by birth. I came from a Pentecostal background where most of the teaching was based on The New Testament with very little teaching, if any, on the Old Testament.
I've always had a deep desire, a longing to know more about the roots of both the Old Testament and New Testament particularly Judaism. I met my first wife, who was Jewish, in early 1966. I enrolled in the Congregation Beth El-Ateret Israel Yeshiva for Biblical Studies in Newton, MA. Biblical Studies. In early 1967 I converted to Orthodox Judaism and circumcised (brit milah) by a moel (circumciser) at age 24 at Beth El-Ateret Israel Yeshiva in Newton, Massachusetts.
As part of the Orthodox Jewish conversion process I was required to, first deny Yeshua (three times) as the Messiah, and second be circumcised [Genesis 17:11] and third be baptized (mikvah). So, in June of 1967 I publicly denied Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.
Orthodox Judaism tradition instructs the conversion candidate to go through a Jewish yeshiva. A yeshiva is a Hebrew educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah.
I subsequently entrenched myself in Hebraic/Rabbinical studies learning about the Jewish culture, Torah, traditions, customs, language, and Judaic faith in God at the Congregation Beth El-Ateret Israel Yeshiva in Newton, MA.
Jews believe in individual and collective participation in an eternal dialogue with God through tradition, rituals, prayers and ethical actions. Christianity generally believes in a Triune God, one person of whom became human. Judaism emphasizes the Oneness of God and rejects the Christian concept of God in human form.
However, in the early '80s I came to know Yeshua haMashiach as my personal Lord and Savior, the true Messiah of both the Tanakh and B'rit Chadashah revealed to me through the power of the Holy Spirit. It also during this period that I came in contact with Zola Levitt. From Zola's teachings I learned about the true Messiah which changed my life and that to "walk as Yeshua walked" (I John 2:6) meant to follow His Torah by the Holy Spirit.
In the years between 1980 - 1990 though I struggled spiritually with my denial of Yeshua. Satan has used that denial as a weapon and constant reminder to confuse me and hinder me in my new walk with the Lord.
After reading Eddie Chumney's book "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah" the breakthrough came in the mid-'90s. The Holy Spirit began to draw me deeper into His Word with a desire to discover the Hebraic roots of my faith. The Lord has used the experiences from my Christian and Judaic backgrounds to lead me into discovering the revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach to the Jews and the Hebraic roots of Christianity.
My2Olivestrees website dedicated to the restoring the Hebraic roots of Torah & Christianity. I have a Associates Degree in Hebraic studies from MBI Yeshiva.
The Tanaka is, without question, a blueprint or shadow of Yeshua the Messiah in the B’rit Chadashah. The Tanakh is the B'rit Chadashah concealed and the B’rit Chadashah is the Tanakh revealed. God promises to lead us to all truth and the deeper things of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures are the infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word of God. Infallible means His Word is incapable of error, inerrant means God used human authors to pen exactly what God wanted without any mixture of error, and inspired means Scripture is "breathed out" (ruach) by God.
I believe entire the Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – that it is for all of God’s people. I honor the Sabbath, I believe in the Biblical feasts (moedim), and a biblical lifestyle (Torah). I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. I am a disciple-follower (talmidim) of the True Messiah and I believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One True God who is calling His people to follow His ways - Torah.