French Exodus: 'When Jews Flee, a Nation is Sick'

PARIS -- In the suburbs of Paris, a Jewish family gathers to read the Torah. But soon they will be gone. They're part of a growing number of French Jews and leaving their country because the future simply looks too dangerous. In January, demonstrators in Paris shouted, "We don't want Jews" and gave the Nazi salute. It was chilling reminder of France's World War II past when Jews were deported to concentration camps. Before the war, European Jews waited too long to leave and ended up trapped. French Jews don't want to make the same mistake again.

CBN News interviewed a French family under the condition that they not be identified because they fear a backlash from French society. In a few months the family will leave for Israel. They told us they preferred to go while they could leave on their terms instead of someday having to flee for their lives. "We are not really afraid, but seeing the murders last year in Toulouse and what happened at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, we are afraid for our children and what could happen to them, and we think about it every day," the father told CBN News.

The mother of the Jewish family has already been called a "dirty Jew" by the neighbors. She has instructed her daughter to slip her Star of David inside her blouse when she goes outside, and has told her sons to be careful about where they wear their kippahs, or yarmulkes. "They have worn the kippahs since they were very young, but over the past few years I have told them maybe it's better not to wear it sometimes," the mother said.

"There's a strong feeling inside the French community that it's time to leave," Philippe Karsenty, Jewish deputy mayor of Neuilly, said. "You can't have a dinner a conversation with a Jew without having the topic mentioned. Should we stay or should we leave?" There are only 400,000 Jews in France and they're outnumbered by Arabs and Muslims by perhaps 15 to 1 or more. French law prohibits identifying citizens by ethnic background.

There have been close to 8,000 anti-Semitic incidents in France since 2000 - and each time Israel acts in self-defense against the Palestinians, the danger increases. French Muslims have staged large and more violent demonstrations, including one a few weeks ago in which 200 Jews were trapped inside a synagogue.

Rabbi Michaël Azoulay, the head of CRIF, France's national Jewish association, said the threat to Jews has become "unbearable."

At a synagogue near Paris, Rabbi Azoulay told CBN News the number of Jews coming to him for a certificate of Jewishness to go to Israel has increased dramatically in the past year. "It started around last July," he said. "We have many requests from families ... not just from the community of Neuilly, but other communities in Paris, who came to us and requested certificates for the Jewish Agency in the aim to possibly go to Israel."

It's estimated that as many as 5,000 Jews could leave France this year. The exodus of the Jews is a disaster for the French government, which keeps condemning the anti-Semitic attacks but can't stop them. Dr. Richard Prasquier, former president of France's national Jewish association, emphasized that France is not an anti-Semitic country.

"I do not accept the fact that France is an anti-Semitic country. France is not anti-Semitic country. This government and the previous government did not have anti-Semitic ideas," he said. The French father we interviewed said he believes the government is doing what it can. "But it's difficult to do more because the problem is so overwhelming. It cannot stop all the anti-Semitic incidents in society," he added.

French Jews seem to all agree that the French media is guilty of encouraging hatred of Jews by its one-sided reporting of the Middle East conflict and almost daily vilification of Israel. "I think that the major responsibility bears on the media's shoulder because the media has been inciting hate against Israel for more than a decade," Karsenty said. "Every time when you watch TV or you listen to the radio or you read newspapers you always feel hate messages against Israel."

"There is the feeling that Jews are fed up with the image of Israel that is continuously repeating itself in the media," he said. Not all French Jews are in danger, and not all who are leaving France are doing so because of anti-Semitism. Some are leaving because of the bad economy. But three out of four Jews say they are thinking about leaving, and 95 percent say they are worried about anti-Semitism. Rabbi Azoulay said Jews are "concerned now that the government will not be able to set things right, to stop the attacks. And that worries me."

French Jews now face a perfect storm, with a war in Gaza, growing numbers of French Muslims, a bad economy, and the growing popularity of the far right National Front. "Jews are being insulted and threatened not only by Muslims, but also by members of the far right and from leftists who hate Israel," the Jewish father told CBN News.

The Jewish family is looking forward to a life free of anti-Semitism in Israel. "We will breathe for freely in Israel and I will be happy to see my children will be able to live more freely as Jews there," the mother said. French leaders know that when Jews have to leave, it means a nation is sick. "Jews are a litmus test of what's going on," Prasquier said. "It's not only Jews who will leave the country. It's not only France who will go down the drain, it's not only Europe, it's the entire Western world, including the United States."

Judaism is anti-Christian

One needs only to read the Jewish Talmud, which is the foundation of all Rabbinical teaching, to see the vitriol hatred of Jesus the Christ, and through association - all Christians.

The Description of Jesus in the Talmud

Jesus was born out of wedlock (Mishna Yebamoth 4,13) to His mother, Miriam, and her lover Pantera (Shabbat 104b). She is said to have been the descendant of princes and rulers, and to have played the harlot with a carpenter (Sanhedrin 106a). Jesus spent time in Egypt, from where He learned magic. He was a magician who deceived and led Israel astray. He mocked at the words of the wise, was tainted with heresy, and was thus excommunicated (Sanhedrin 107b). He called Himself God, also the Son of Man, and said that He would go up to heaven (Jerusalem Taanit 65a). He was “near to the kingdom” and had five disciples (Sanhedrin 43a). He was tried in Lydda as a deceiver and as a teacher of apostasy (Tosephta Sanhedrin X, 11: Jerusalem Sanhedrin 25c,d). He was executed in Lydda, on the eve of Passover, which was also the eve of the Sabbath, by being stoned and hung, or crucified (Tosephta Sanhedrin IX, 7). For forty days a herald proclaimed that He was to be stoned, and invited evidence in His favor, but none was given (Sanhedrin 43a). He (under the name of Balaam) was put to death by Pinchas the Robber (Pontius Pilate?) when He was thirty-three years old (Sanhedrin 106b). He was punished in Gehenna by the means of boiling filth (Gittin 56b, 57a). Finally, under the name of Balaam, He is one of those excluded from the world to come (Mishna Sanhedrin X, 2).

In addition to these horribly erroneous and blasphemous statements said of Jesus in the Talmud, there is yet more to be found in the Jewish scholarly studies known as the “Toledot Yeshu” (“History of Jesus”). In this strange parody of the life of Jesus, there are similarities with what is said in the traditional Talmudic references, the only difference being that the commentary is less restrained and more elaborate. Here is a sample of what is said of the Jesus in the Toledot Yeshu.

The Description of Jesus in the Toledot Yeshu

Mary, who had been betrothed to a man named John, was seduced by her neighbor, Joseph ben Pantera. When she discovered she was pregnant, John left her and went to Babylon. When Jesus was born, she tried to pretend He was the son of John and even attempted to give Him a Jewish religious education. Jesus, however, began to reveal the evil that would later mark Him and was extremely rude to His rabbi teacher. The rabbi eventually uncovered the truth about Jesus’ father, but declared that Mary was not worthy of death because she committed the act unwillingly. Jesus, about thirty years old and now declared to be a bastard, fled to Jerusalem. There he secretly “stole” the letters of the Divine Name which had been written on the Foundation Stone of the Holy of Holies in the Temple – by sewing them under his skin! With the power of the Divine Name, He began to heal the sick and eventually gathered 310 young men as His followers. He also performed such “magic tricks” as enabling a millstone to float on the Sea of Galilee and causing clay birds to fly, and even occasionally flying Himself. At one point He was chained to an ark of the law in a synagogue in Tiberias, but His followers, called “insurgents,” rescued Him and He fled to Antioch.

Eventually, Yeshu arrived in Jerusalem on the eve of Passover, riding on a donkey. There He was arrested and examined by the “wise men.” During this time He claimed to be the Son of God and the Messiah, and cited many of the traditional messianic prophecies as being fulfilled in the events of His life. Condemned as a blasphemer by the “wise Men” (the Romans are not mentioned), He was put to death by hanging on a tree and was buried by the time of the evening prayer. On the third day, His “insurgents” declared to Helena (queen at the time!?) that they could not find Him in the tomb. At that point, the gardener revealed that he had removed the body and cast it in a nearby pool. Whereupon the “wise men” recovered the corpse, tied cords around His ankles, and dragged Him through the streets of Jerusalem. (Source: Zion’s Fire)

Obviously, these perverted statements regarding the person of the Lord Jesus Christ have turned millions of precious Jewish people away from their own Messiah. The same kind of hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ displayed when He was brought before Pontus Pilate is obvious in the Talmud and the Toledot Yeshu. (See the full account in Matthew 27 – Mark 15 – Luke 23 – John 19). Beloved, this is why we must seek to preach Christ and Him crucified to the Jewish people. Their understanding has been darkened, and their eyes blinded to the truth by their traditions and centuries of rejection of the prophetic truths regarding their own Messiah. We see bumper stickers pasted on automobile bumpers that ask us to, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” I often wonder if these dear folks who place these stickers on their cars even understand the Millennial implications of this statement. In one of David’s “Songs of Degrees” we read, “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6). The day is yet to come when Jerusalem will know peace and live in peace. That day will not come until the Lord Jesus Christ sits upon the Throne of David as King of kings, and Lord of lords. That day will not come until the Lord Jesus Christ establishes His Millennial Kingdom upon this earth, and the Jewish people are back in the land, not in national pride, but in individual and national repentance. In the meantime, we may well pray for the peace of Jerusalem in biblical context, but must also pray fervently for the conversion of the Jewish people. The Jewish nation will not know peace until she know the Prince of Peace. Likewise, the individual Jew will not know peace until he or she knows the Prince of Peace.

This link gives you the Roman Catholic response to your accusations.

http://roman-catholic.com/Roman/Articles/catholicsjews.html

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