Posted on 09/02/2009 5:46:20 PM PDT by Iam1ru1-2
On July 24, 2009, the main Israeli English paper, The Jerusalem Post, featured a front page article - a very favorable one - about Messianic Jews.
Titled, “Serving in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], ‘for the sake of God and Jesus,’” the paper went on to explain some “150 highly motivated believers will join the IDF this year. Many of them will serve in combat units.”
The journalist described a Messianic prearmy program called “Netsor” that leads soon-to-be soldiers through a week of mental and spiritual preparation for their army service. The Jerusalem Post interviewed a Netsor class of 28 Messianic Jews. According to the Post, one of the Netsor candidates explained, “I am a soldier of God... I will do my best during my service in the IDF to serve God spiritually and physically. Not for the sake of state authorities but for the sake of God and Jesus.” This young man has been accepted into one of the elite combat units.
The Post goes on to explain that these soldiers are convinced they are walking in Yeshua’s footsteps, as they train “to become the next fighter pilots, reconnaissance soldiers, paratroopers, tank commanders and sailors.”
The journalist then explained the beliefs of Messianic Jews, describing redemption through the Messiah and the prophetic promises of God towards Israel. All in all it was one of the most positive articles I’ve ever read in the Israeli press.
But would you believe? Exactly three working days later, in the exact same spot - lower left quarter of the front page - appeared an article titled “Are Christian missionaries targeting the elderly?”
It then began to describe what to most Israelis would appear to be a horror story. I quote directly: “A Holocaust survivor who was suffering from dementia was deceived by those hired to help her, family members said, because they claim they converted her to their Messianic Christian religion.
“The two women who were hired to play music and speak with 94-yearold Sara told her daughter, Goldie Maxwell, weeks after Sara died that they were both Messianic Jews, that they had played and sung songs from the New Testament when Maxwell and her husband were not around, and that at the end of her life, Sara had a revelation and acknowledged Jesus as the messiah.”
The article claims that these women “recorded these statements in a document” which they gave to Maxwell after Sara’s death in March. According to the document, the caretaker of the elderly woman said they “chased away the demons that were trying to plague her and preventing her from receiving blessing.” Maxwell says she now recalls that her mother looked as if she were under great strain, even though she could not talk - meaning that she was unable to do anything about her tormentors who were deluging her with the New Testament.
This strange story clearly has the fingerprints all over it of the antifreedom of religion organization Yad L’achim, which, funded by the government and private ultra-Orthodox donors (and also innocent Christians) has organized itself into an army to fight the growing Messianic Jewish movement.
The article continues: “...Maxwell is speaking out. She is devastated by what happened to her mother, upset that it may be happening to others and scared that Messianic missionaries may use her mother’s story to advertise and proselytize.”
Of course, the story may be true. I myself don’t believe it for a minute. In all the years I have been in Israel, I have never heard of a Messianic Jewish believer entering into a home of a Holocaust victim and singing “Polish traditional songs,” but then, when the rest of the family was out of the house, attempting to “convert” a totally helpless women who could not speak a word and who suffered from dementia.
What is factual, however, is that this article is very damaging to the Messianic Jewish community. It is my belief that as the Messianic believers grow in numbers and strength, and the Israeli people observe the character and qualities of the followers of Yeshua as a whole, the persecution will become more shrill and acute by the haters of religious freedom in Israel.
STRONG PERSECUTION CONTINUES IN THE SOUTH
In the city of Arad in southern Israel, some of the most intense and persistent persecution is continuing at this moment. Literally all of the believers in that town suffer great hardship. There are large yeshivas (Talmudic schools) that are filled with thousands of young men. They are supported by taxpayers’ money and donations from ultra-Orthodox patrons in the U.S and other nations. Since they don’t work or serve in the army, they have plenty of time to torment followers of Yeshua.
Their main tactic is to irritate, aggravate and infuriate the believers in order to get some kind of reaction from them. For instance, one of the Messianic leaders in Arad told me that an ultra-Orthodox man stands in front of his house from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. every night. He just stands there, doing nothing, but by doing so the dogs throughout the neighborhood howl incessantly all night.
On Mondays at 5:00 a.m. this believer leaves his home for a prayer meeting. As he walks away from the house, the ultra-Orthodox (haredim in Hebrew) follow him, cursing and shouting at him at close range. The haredim stalk the believers, following and harassing them continuously whenever they leave their homes. They wave their hands in front of the believers’ faces, tormenting, screaming obscenities at them, and their children, hoping for a reaction they can film. Sadly, it is the same spirit and tactics the Nazis used in the beginning against Jews in Europe not so long ago.
PROTESTING AGAINST A CHESS CLUB
In 2002, Eddie and Lura Beckford started a chess club in Arad called the King’s Men Club and Bible Shop for pensioners. The haredim have done everything in their power to close down this outreach, including setting it on fire. Our humanitarian aid fund for believers, istandwithisrael.com, helped them rebuild it. It is full every day with elderly men, especially Russians, who play chess and read the Gospel literature available there.
On a regular basis, the haredim come to the club, cursing and swearing, screaming and blaspheming and in general causing pandemonium. After one violent demonstration, one of the chess players had a heart attack and died on the spot. The police never did a thing about it.
When the ultra-Orthodox harass, they often have one of their colleagues film the event. If a believer tries to defend himself, he will find himself on youtube - only, of course, the part of the video that shows the Messianic believer.
UNDER HOUSE ARREST
Eddie Beckford is an ex-Marine who finally became so annoyed that he punched an ultra-Orthodox (for which he is more than sorry). That was all they needed. They took the case to the police - and the police have put Eddie under house arrest for a year and a half. That’s right. A year and a half without being brought to trial.
Now get this. Eddie and Laura left their house with the judge’s approval to visit a doctor on April 22 of this year. The haredim, who as we said have much time on their hands, continue to stalk the believers. They saw the Beckford’s car leave and went to the police to tell them that Eddie and Laura had left their home against court instructions.
So on the way back to their home, the police stopped the Beckfords, making them 20 minutes late getting home. Meanwhile, the police, alerted by the haredim, went to their home and found them gone past their curfew.
So a couple of months later, the police showed up at their door and arrested Eddie for not being at home on time on April 22. After explaining the situation to the police, he was released after his wife signed a pledge to pay $500. That is after the Beckfords have already signed a $9,000 bond if he “escapes.”
Cartoon on http://www.jewishisrael.com/ portrays Messianic Jews duping elderly Israelis into believing in Yeshua.
Despite their house arrest, they, as did Paul in prison, have used the time to share the Good News with friends who come to visit them. They have especially been given the opportunity to minister to Bedouin whose religion is a form of Islam.
Not far away in Beersheva, Howard Bass, leader of Nahalat Yeshua (Yeshua’s Inheritance) has decided to take to court a fierce attack against their congregation when 500 haredim mobbed their Saturday morning service, trashing the inside of their building for three hours. The believers were hit and knocked about while the police stood by watching, but doing nothing.
The case has been accepted by a judge and the next hearing will be on November 23. However, it is worth starting to pray now, as this is an important case because either these people who hate the Messianic Jews will continue to have a free hand at harassing the believers in Arad, Beersheva and surrounding areas, or the courts will stand up in justice on the side of freedom of religion and human rights.
The anti-religious freedom organization Yad L’achim is growing by leaps and bounds and structuring itself in every major town and area in the country. Especially, since the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the other Orthodox parties are squarely in the seat of power with access to hundreds of millions of shekels, Yad L’achim is becoming much more aggressive and organized - taking on semi-governmental status.
They gather information on every believer possible and publically claim they have spies in all the congregations.
PROTESTING AGAINST A PARKING LOT
As Paul the Apostle said, “They have a zeal for God, but without knowledge.” The ultra-Orthodox have lost their way and are without a compass. Trying to be holy, they flail at the wind. For the past few months, the haredim have been violently demonstrating every Sabbath in Jerusalem. For what? The city wanted to keep open a large parking lot on the Sabbath so visitors to the Old City of Jerusalem would have a place to park nearby. As it is now, hundreds of cars park alongside the streets, causing terrible traffic jams throughout that part of the city.
The haredim were determined the parking lot would not be open for parking. And mobs of hundreds and even thousands have blocked off large areas near the Old City over this parking lot week after week.
The mayor is determined to open the parking lot and the haredim are determined it will not be open as it will “desecrate the Sabbath.” As of now, the weekly protests continue with throwing rocks at the police, burning garbage containers and vandalizing the areas - all for the purpose of maintaining the Sabbath peace.
RIOTING AGAINST PROSECUTING ULTRA-ORTHODOX CRIMINALS
Lately there has been a spate of a variety of crimes which has rocked the ultra-Orthodox community. An especially difficult tragedy concerns a woman who seems to be mentally ill and who was starving her three year old. The child was brought to the hospital weighing only about 16 pounds. When the hospital finally realized what she was doing (through cameras they saw her disconnecting the feeding tube from the boy) they arrested her.
Again, thousands of haredim took to the streets with violent demonstrations, not because the child had been abused, but claiming the woman had been framed by police. This story is not over as there is a good chance the woman will be tried and jailed. That would almost certainly give rioting haredim another reason for violent protests.
Ultra-Orthodox do not believe there should be a State of Israel until the Messiah comes. They consider themselves anti-Zionists, and tend to isolate themselves in ghettos in Israel.
No matter what crime has been committed, the ultra-Orthodox do not want one of their own to be prosecuted, and will do whatever they can to keep the laws of the State of “Zionist” Israel from being enforced in their communities (unless they themselves are using the courts and government institutions for such purposes as against Messianic Jews).
AGAINST THE STATE OF ISRAEL
Their reasoning is that because Israel is a secular state, it was born in sin and cannot be legitimate until the Messiah comes and the nation is ruled by Talmudic law! Thus they see themselves as anti-Zionists, meaning anti-modern State of Israel.
However, they do love receiving mammoth government stipends for their non-working families, their yeshivas (Talmudic schools) and all of their educational institutions.
Persecution is still very much an issue in Israel. From Galilee to the Negev desert in the south, Messianic believers must be alert to those who wish to harm them, who work to force them out of the Land and who desire to do everything in their power - legally or illegally - to delegitimize them and their faith in Yeshua.
But God is watching over Israel, positioning believers, young and old, in His Land to prepare for the Great Awakening He has promised.
So as Shani wrote in her article, we must pray for the salvation of these ultra-Orthodox communities. Just think what will happen when their zeal is accompanied with revelation of Yeshua.
All Israel will be saved!
You would think that of all the people in the world who should believe in freedom of religious expression, it would be the Jews, but how soon man forgets history. But Jesus warned that we would be persecuted in the last days. BUT I never dreamed it would be from religious Jews.
We are truly in the last days.
MARANATHA!!!
Israel is the Jewish state
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Muslims believe that Israel is Palestine, and therefore believe that Jews do not have any rights to have it. That’s why they bomb Israel and kill Jews. Is this OK with you?
“Muslims believe that Israel is Palestine, and therefore believe that Jews do not have any rights to have it.”
well, they are wrong.
America isn’t Vatican City. I have no problem with the Catholic Church being in sole control of that city.
Well, they believe you are wrong.
Vatican City is a Catholic Religious City. Israel is not. There are many religions being practiced there, even atheism. You have to be a Catholic Priest to live in Vatican City. You are comparing apples and oranges.
many religions are practiced in Israel but it is a Jewish state
Now, now don't jump the gun, they should perhaps be placed in Ghettos first, then in "Special" Camps, keeping them warm in ovens, and scrubbing their contaminated minds in "special" showers. (/sarcasm>
And only the Messianic Jews are persecuted this way. Is this right? Is this practicing Judaism? What next Decapitation?
By your map, you are saying that Judaism should be the only religion allowed to be practiced without persecution, and yet MOST OF THE JEWS living in Israel practice no religion at all. So your premise is invalid.
I don’t think anyone should be persecuted. But the laws in Israel should only be made by Jews, not muslims or members of any other religion.
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