Sayings of Chairman Moishe
by Moishe Rosen
Jews for Jesus is a sister ministry of ours with which
we have had a long and close relationship. People often
confuse us with that ministry, but our calling is slightly
different. Jews for Jesus approaches Jewish people
directly with the Gospel, often in street witnessing
campaigns. We mainly train Gentile Christians to witness
to the Jews. It's not unlike the distinction between the
ministry of Peter, called to witness to the Jews in Israel,
and Paul, called to witness to the Gentiles in the Roman Empire.
Naturally, we witness to Jews, and Jews for Jesus witnesses
to Gentiles on occasion, as did Peter and Paul.
The wisdom of Moishe Rosen, now retired as leader of Jews
for Jesus, has always been precious to the Messianic
community and churches alike. In the following article, which
appeared in the March 1997 edition of the Jews for Jesus
newsletter, Moishe answers the questions of many
readers regarding On Wings of Eagles, a ministry purporting
to be a "fellowship of Christians and Jews." Since we have
received numerous letters asking about this ministry and the
Ebenezer Emergency Fund (a ministry we support), we
want to print his thoughts for your edification.
The Ebenezer Emergency Fund carries out the same mission
as On Wings of Eagles—bringing Jews out of Russia—and was
featured recently on our television program. Its founder,
Gustav Scheller, was our guest, and he explained how this
fund is used to transport Jewish people from Russia to
Israel. Scheller is certainly a Christian of lifelong
experience and testimony. He accomplishes his mighty
work, giving credit to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can
contact the Ebenezer Emergency Fund, also known as
"Operation Exodus," by writing to P. O. Box 271653,
Fort Collins, CO 80527-1653. Its phone number is
970-223-3301.
A friend of our ministry wrote to ask, "Do you
have any knowledge of a group called On Wings of
Eagles, a ministry of the International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews?"
This friend had heard that On Wings of Eagles was
helping Jewish people return to the Land of Israel,
and since it is under the umbrella of an organization
with the word "Christian" in it, wondered if it
might be an appropriate way for Christians to show
support of Israel.
Let me say that we do have some knowledge, mainly
that the International Fellowship of Christians and
Jews is headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. Rabbi
Eckstein does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah
and discourages Christians from witnessing to Jews
in the strongest terms possible. In fact, it seems
that his intention has been to develop relationships
with committed Christians—not merely to raise funds
for Israel, but to undermine evangelistic efforts
directed toward Jewish people. He's apparently a
very personable man and very subtle in his approach.
He has cozied up to evangelicals and many see their
friendship with him as a step forward in "Jewish-Christian
relationships."
Unfortunately, friendships between evangelical Christians
and Rabbi Eckstein cannot help foster the most important
relationship of all: that is the relationship that Jewish
people need to have with Jesus, the Messiah of Israel.
Eckstein's misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what it
means for a Jew to believe in Him have misled many
well-meaning evangelicals into the false notion that
it is disrespectful and even harmful to share their
faith with Jewish people.
For example, in his book titled What Christians Should
Know About Jews and Judaism, Eckstein wrote, "When directed
at Jews, however, Christian missions conflict with and even
jeopardize the central ethic guiding Jewish life today—Jewish
survival. While Christians have sought to convert Jews to
Christianity for almost two millennia, after the holocaust
those attempts are regarded as especially pernicious threats
to Jewish survival—indeed, a form of spiritual genocide."
Eckstein does not have a relationship with Jesus, does not
believe that the New Testament is the word of God and cannot
be expected to know that "no one [Gentile or Jewish] comes
to the Father except through Jesus. " Christians who believe
that Jews need Jesus should know that supporting Eckstein's
causes will not help Jewish people in the long (eternal) run.
Our readers need to understand that the government of Israel
provides airfare for any new Jewish immigrant who remains two
years. Not only that, Israel provides new immigrants with rental
subsidies, partial grants toward the purchase of a home, free
language instruction, a stipend for those without employment
and free elementary schooling.
I realize that many well-known Christians have seemingly
endorsed what Rabbi Eckstein is doing. It's entirely
possible that they aren't aware of all of the facts.
With regard to a fellowship between Christians and Jews,
this is another matter for theology. Is it possible to have
fellowship with people who don't share our faith that Jesus
is the promised crucified and risen Messiah for Jews and
gentiles?
In II Corinthians 6:14,
we read, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for
what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness,
or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (emphasis added).
That doesn't mean that all believers always behave righteously
and all unbelievers behave unrighteously, but even as you can't
bind righteousness and lawlessness together, so you can't find
unity in matters of faith between believers and unbelievers.
Most evangelical Christians fail to recognize that fellowship
is a function of faith and that there are not many different
kinds of faith. "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism."
(Eph. 4:5, emphasis added.)
I'm not advocating we stay away from unbelievers; we've got
to reach out to them in love with the gospel. However, I
will not advocate a friendship with someone who uses his
friendship to make people ashamed of telling the gospel.
Jews for Jesus International Headquarters: 60 Haight
Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-5895
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"Dishonored" Father Beheads Bride Who Eloped
The following article makes for very unpleasant reading. We
do not include it so much as a piece of news as for the fact
that it did not get very wide distribution when the Associated
Press issued its August 20, 1997. For example, I turned every
page of the USA Today newspaper and did not find it.
I doubt if your hometown paper carried it, either. There seems to
be an unspoken agreement among the American media to suppress
embarrassing news about Arab cultures, but to make all possible
effort to criticize Israel.
We must recall that petro-dollars purchase a great deal of advertising
in the media—definitely a for profit business. And anti-semitism has
been, unfortunately, a tradition throughout the Western
world for centuries.
In this time when you are being lambasted with the supposed sins of Israel, which
for some reason reacts negatively to its citizens being bombarded, it's
well to remember how many Arab communities conduct themselves. The following
story issues from the best city of arguably the best and most modernized
major Arab nation.
CAIRO, Egypt — Nora Marzouk Ahmed was on her honeymoon
yesterday when her father chopped off her head and carried it
down a dusty neighborhood street as a punishment for dishonoring
the family.
She had eloped. Holding his 25-year-old daughter's freshly
severed head, Marzouk Ahmed Abdel-Rahim said to hundreds
of onlookers in the low-income Cairo neighborhood:
"Now, the family has regained its honor."
He then surrendered to police.
Nora Marzouk Ahmed is not an isolated victim in Egypt,
where activists say scores of women are killed or beaten
every year by their fathers, brothers, or husbands
for actions deemed to have sullied the family honor.
Their deeds could include premarital sex, eloping,
being seen publicly with a man who is not a relative
or going outside without a veil.
"Honor and integrity in Egypt have become warped,
" Nawal Saadawi, a leading Egyptian feminist
writer, said. "For many Egyptian men, integrity is
now linked to the actions and behavior of the women
in the family."
There are no official figures. Many cases, activists
say, escape scrutiny because families describe the
deaths as accidents to prevent further scandal.
The current case might not even have come to light
had her father not so brazenly defied the law. A
police official, speaking on customary condition
of anonymity, said Abdel-Rahim had rejected
Ashraf Mohammed Ahmed as a suitor when he asked
for Nora's hand in marriage.
Islamic tradition stresses parental approval for
a wedding, so Nora and Ashraf decided to elope.
Abdel-Rahim hunted them down and killed his daughter
as a way of proving to his neighbors that he was
an honorable man, the police official said. He
refused to provide further details.
Family members were not available for comment.
Saadawi, the author, said most honor killings
take place in lower income groups. Often,
daughters are seen as money-earners because
in traditional Islamic marriages, a groom gives
his in-laws a dowry.
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Letters to Zola
Dear Friends,
It's always uplifting to hear from our viewers and our readers. This letter was
especially encouraging to me because our ultimate goal is to point others to
Christ and to help each one establish a more personal, intimate relationship with
Him. May this letter bless you as it did me.
Dear Zola,
First, I would like to thank you for your ministry. It has been a wonderful help.
My wife and I were raised in a cult. We were taught to love the Lord all our
lives, but the doctrine of the cult prevented us from seeing the real Jesus.
In a sense, we were like the Jewish people, blinded by the Law and trusting in
it for salvation. It is only in the last three years that the Great God of Israel
has been delivering us from our former false beliefs. Your teaching on the
Jewish Wedding [A Christian Love Story] is such a beautiful and precious story
and has opened up in a new light to us so many of Jesus' parables. The story of
the folded napkin shed such wonderful light on Scripture that never made sense to me before.
We just started to receive your Levitt Letter and bought the two tapes of the
Seven Feasts of Israel. We have watched them many times. We love
the Jewish People very much and constantly pray for Israel. We hope to go to Israel with
you this year, perhaps with a group from [our church]. But, if not, we wlll go to Israel
with you anyway because I will not go with anyone else.
I get so disgusted when I read the biased opinions of the press, and
the hateful attitude of the Arabs makes me want to do all that I can to help Israel.
We look forward to meeting you and hearing more of the wonderful Word
of the Lord. To me, you are like Paul of old, a Jewish Christian who understands the
old and the new. So take good heart, my brother, and keep on preaching the Word!
We love it. God Bless.
Sincerely,
A. & R.T.
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