A three-in-one festival by David Brickner, executive director

Transcription

1 A three-in-one festival by David Brickner, executive director You probably know that November 28 is Thanksgiving... but did you know it is also the first day (and second night) of Hanukkah? These two holidays coincided only once before (125 years ago). And they won t do so again until the year 79,811, * but I think the Messiah will return well before then! That bit of trivia has me thinking about The Feast of Tabernacles is the last and greatest of the seven biblical feasts commanded in Leviticus 23 a time for God s people to rejoice and give thanks for His provision during the final autumn harvest season. No wonder it was the best attended, most jubilant of all the festivals God instituted! Sukkot became a wonderful vehicle for spiritual renewal throughout Israel s history. I don t know that either Hanukkah or Thanksgiving is commonly viewed as such today, but perhaps if we see their historical connections, their coinciding this month will become a great occasion to pursue our own spiritual renewal. The temple was defiled and the people were defeated except for a small band of guerilla soldiers known as the Maccabees. But these guerilla soldiers fighting in the Judean hills kept the flame of hope alive for the Jewish nation. Miraculously, after a series of protracted skirmishes lasting for three years, these Maccabean warriors recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the temple. It is this act of rededicating the temple that brings us to the connection with the Feast of Tabernacles. It is recorded in the Book of Maccabees: Now Maccabee and his followers, under the leadership of the Lord, recaptured (continued on page 2) the wonderful parallels between our American holiday of Thanksgiving and the Jewish Festival of Hanukkah. There are many, but none more remarkable than the fact that both festivals draw their origin from a third celebration, Sukkot (pronounced suecoat) or the Feast of Tabernacles. How is the original story and celebration of Hanukkah interwoven with the Feast of Tabernacles? During the intertestamental period the Jewish nation had come under the domination of a Syrian despot called Antiochus, who was on a campaign to Hellenize the people by force. He outlawed Torah observances such as circumcision and kosher laws. He desecrated the holy temple, sacrificing unclean animals on the altar, erecting idols of Zeus and the Greek Pantheon and generally making the focal point of Jewish worship into a center for pagan religion. In this edition November 2013 David Brickner on a once in a lifetime convergence...1 Onlinextras, Hello Israel, prayer prompters and cartoon...3 Creative holiday outreach...4 Israelis reaching Israelis in India...6 Moishe s word of thanks still true...7 Bits from our New York and Israel branches...8

2 (continued from page 1) the temple and the city, and pulled down the altars erected by the aliens in the marketplace. Now it so happened that the cleansing of the sanctuary took place on the very day on which it had been profaned by aliens on the 25th day of the same month, which is Kislev. And they celebrated it for eight days with gladness (like a) Feast of Tabernacles remembering how not long before during the Feast of Tabernacles they had been wandering like wild beasts in the mountains in caves and were unable to celebrate it. So bearing wands wreathed with leaves and fair boughs and palms, they offered hymns of praise to Him who had prospered the cleansing of His own place (2 Maccabees 10). While the rededication took place on the 25th of Kislev, the ninth month of the Jewish calendar in the year 124 B.C., it is apparent that the initial observance of Hanukkah was viewed as a belated (by two months) celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Just as the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated for eight days, so the Feast of Hanukkah is observed for eight days. Similarly, what Maccabees describes as wreathed wands and fair boughs and palms sound very much like references to the lulav, the four species used during the original Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, the same Greek word for those wands, thyrsoi, was also used by Josephus to describe the lulav of the Feast of Tabernacles. Of course the Feast of Hanukkah took on a life of its own, with separate traditions and ceremonies. But that should not obscure the point that, originally, it was a vehicle for renewal and spiritual revival among the Jewish people, and one that centered on gratitude to God. Similarly, in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock patterned the first Thanksgiving after the Feast of Tabernacles. Fleeing England in search of religious freedom, they spent time in Holland where they had significant interaction with a large Sephardic Jewish community that had also found shelter there. The Puritans braved the perilous crossing of the Atlantic, but nearly half of their number had died by the time of that first harvest celebration. The settlers saw England s Home Harvest celebration as pagan and wanted to develop their own harvest celebration. They drew upon the parallels between their circumstances and that of ancient Israel. Just as the Maccabees were celebrating deliverance from Syrian domination, so the Puritans saw their celebration as deliverance from the religious persecution they experienced in England under King James I. No Christian community in history identified more with the People of the Book than did the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who believed their own lives to be a literal reenactment of the biblical drama of the Hebrew nation. They themselves were the children of Israel; America was their Promised Land; the Atlantic Ocean their Red Sea; the Kings of England were the Egyptian pharaohs; the American Indians the Canaanites (or the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel); the pact of the Plymouth Rock was God s holy Covenant; and the ordinances by which they lived were the Divine Law... [They] saw themselves as instruments of Divine Providence, a people chosen to build their new commonwealth on the Covenant entered into at Mount Sinai (The Bible and Civilization, 1973, p. 236). Inspired by their understanding of the Scriptures, the Pilgrims instituted Thanksgiving as a means of acknowledging God s provision and His presence with them in the new land. I don t accept their view of America as the new promised land, nor American Christians as the new Israel much less Native Americans as Canaanites! But I do appreciate the way they applied the teachings of the Bible to their own circumstances. The Pilgrims were right to recognize that God gives us times of celebration to renew our awareness of His presence, and to inspire gratitude for His provision. The Maccabees and the Pilgrims drew upon the richness of God s Word and the power of His festival celebrations to enliven true worship and gratitude and so can we. It is true that each and every day can be a time of renewal in the Lord, but this year affords us a very special opportunity. We have this once in a lifetime three-in-one festival, the unique convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, both of which have roots in Sukkot, (continued on page 3) We exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide. Jews for Jesus international headquarters: 60 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA ; jfj@jewsforjesus.org; web: jewsforjesus.org; also working in: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom; editor: Ruth Rosen; art director: Paige Saunders; design and illustration: David Yapp; Volume 3: 5774, November 2013; 2013

3 (continued from page 2) of Tabernacles. the Feast onlinextras So let s make this year s holidays a special time of celebration, marked as it was by the Pilgrims and the Maccabees. The Maccabees fought those who forced false worship upon them, and the Puritans fled those who imposed unreasonable religious restrictions. What about us? We can be grateful for the religious freedom that we have, but there is a prevalent culture that would turn us from worshiping in Spirit and in Truth, and that culture can exert a mighty pressure. Praise God if you know you have been delivered from whatever tempts us or competes with the worship that rightly belongs to God. What better way to thank Him than by reading Scriptures, singing songs and hymns and enjoying a great festive meal in honor of the One who delivers us all from bondage to sin through our Savior, Jesus. To read a unique article about Hanukkah that you might pass on to a Jewish person who does not yet know Jesus, go to j4j.co/tough *You can learn why this has never happened before at j.mp/hanthank2 The expanded edition of our newsletter at j4j.co/extras1113 gives you: the ability to click to see the video mentioned on page 4 So What? A short feature that turns what you read in our newsletter into personal encouragement and opportunities for your own life and witness a cool bonus bit from our Israel branch a story of prayer answered in a most unusual way holiday-themed gospel literature that you can download to use for November and December a link for how to make your own Hanukkah menorah more photos of Massah (see page 6) HELLO, ISRAEL! Did you know that Israelis invented many high-tech procedures that have improved the accuracy and effectiveness of modern medicine? For example, SpineAssist was the first robotic system to be used in delicate spinal surgeries. The system involves a disposable robotic implant called Emerald (after one of the jewels on the breastplate worn by the High Priest in the temple, according to the CEO of the company that owns the technology). This month's banner photo: Igor Shelest, from our branch in Essen, Germany, doing outreach in Berlin. 3

4 It would take a time traveler to report on this year s Thanksgiving and Hanukkah outreaches, since this letter has come to you well before they took place!* But we hope that you ll pray for our holiday outreaches, especially when you see a few highlights from last year! Who are you thanking? From branch leader Aaron Abramson in New York City: Thanksgiving in New York City is always a tremendous opportunity to reach out to tourists and residents alike. Last year was no exception. Two weeks before Thanksgiving, a few of our New York staff had some fun at Union Square Park in preparation for the holiday season. There, in the center of the park activity, we rolled out a white banner. We painted the center to read, Who Are You Thanking? in the midst of a bright red circle. Many of us handed out colored markers to onlookers and passersby, offering them the opportunity to join in on the creative process! Dozens of people knelt down on the cement that day to write what they were thankful for, and to whom they were grateful. As the banner was being created, a few staff members interviewed passersby as well as fellow staff members. Participants voiced their gratitude into the camera lens, naming things like: safety from hurricane Sandy, family members, faith and life. Many stopped to ask about the project, to discuss their beliefs, and to understand our ministry. (Use the onlinextras link on p. 3 to see the video.) Building on the energy of our Who Are You Thanking? outreach, the evening before Thanksgiving we brought a team of staff, teenagers and volunteers to the Upper West Side. There beside the Natural History Museum, tens of thousands of people gather to watch the balloons for the Thanksgiving Day Parade inflate into their full glory. It s quite a spectacle! Our New York staff took advantage of the gathering by handing out free hot chocolate to the crowds and sharing about our Jewish Messiah. We gave out around 3,000 cups of hot chocolate, each of which was stamped with a Who Are You Thanking? sticker. We distributed matching postcards with the same theme to raise the issue of being grateful to the One who gave us the greatest gift of all! We were able to engage thousands of Jewish and non- Jewish spectators. Some simply took a cup of hot chocolate, while others wanted to know more about the heart of our mission. The following day, our team went to several locations along the Macy s Thanksgiving Day Parade route and handed out more of those new Thanksgiving postcards. All in all, we were able to hand out nearly 20,000 pieces of gospel literature! After sharing a short meal together, our team headed to Far Rockaway where tens of thousands of people were devastated by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. We partnered with several churches to serve a Thanksgiving dinner to those most severely impacted by the storm. And we worked with the children by providing games, arts and crafts, and some heartfelt encouragement. It was a blessing to be able to meet and serve alongside others who wanted to bless the community. The following day, New York City transformed into a shopping mecca! Black Friday was in full swing and the streets were loaded with people looking for bargains. We didn t miss this opportunity! Our team went out again and shared the gospel with many hurried shoppers. Pray that as we greet people once again with the gospel, that many will be hungry for the good news. Need a miracle? That was the theme of our New York team s Hanukkah outreach, as Rachel Friedlander reported: On the fourth *We ll be able to report on our 2013 Thanksgiving and Hanukkah outreaches by the December edition of RealTime, which will be ed to subscribers on December 16. To subscribe, go to: j4j.co/rtsubscribe night of Hanukkah, our New York City staff headed to the very Jewish neighborhood of 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue. There, we set up a table with a large, double-sided foam core sign on which Amer Olson had skillfully drawn an enormous menorah with the words, Need a Miracle? We asked passersby if there was something they needed in their lives something that seemed impossible. New Yorkers stopped to jot their answers on colorful sticky notes and plaster them all over the menorah board. Some asked for prayer, others wanted to talk about Hanukkah, our beliefs and our organization. Some were angry, of course one of our missionaries was slapped by a disgruntled resident. But the overall reaction was curiosity and interest. Above: Arielle Randle, part of our Chicago team We also set up a camera, filming those willing to answer the questions, What miracle do you need in your life? and What miracles have you experienced? Around our Miracle Station several missionaries handed out free candles with cards attached, wishing the public a happy Hanukkah. The cards explained that Y shua is the shamash, the Servant who ignites each of us with the light of life! It also included our contact information and quoted John 8:12, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. May New York City truly be ignited from within with the light of Y shua! Weather... or Not Bundled up in Chicago Along with many of our U.S. branches, Black Friday is a big day for evangelism in Chicago. As you can see, both shoppers and Jews for Jesus evangelists were braving some cold temps: Branch leader Alan Bond (in blue knit cap) reports from Chicago: After our warmest Thanksgiving in years, with temperatures climbing into the 60s, the wind turned cold and temperatures dropped. Weekend temperatures never made it out of the 30s. On Black Friday and Saturday, five staff and twenty volunteers were greeting the crowds around State Street and the Magnificent Mile shopping areas. This was a record number of volunteers for the beginning of our Christmas push (multiple sorties between Thanksgiving and Christmas) We hope this year Chicago will have another great team of volunteers and, possibly, warmer weather. Meanwhile, staff were in short sleeves in Australia and Brazil Rahel Landrum reports from our Sydney storefront, I was encouraged by the opportunity to witness to three Israeli shoppers in one day. First, two women came to buy Hanukkiot (plural of Hanukkiah, or Hanukkah menorah). One mentioned that she d heard of Messianic believers in Israel. The other was curious about our faith. They both left with Hebrew New Testaments. Another Israeli came in, wanting to buy a Hanukkiah for his wife. He asked me who I thought killed Jesus. I shared with him about the reason Jesus came, that He gave His life for our atonement; no one could take it without His permission. Michael listened and said he had never heard this before, though he had read parts of the New Testament. He seemed genuinely interested. None of these people gave their contact information for us to follow up, but we know that the Holy Spirit can follow up with them and we pray that He has. From Brazil, Sergio Danon reports, Two volunteers joined me for a sortie (tract-passing expedition) at a Hanukkah event at Copacabana Beach. Two Israeli seekers gave their contact information (continued on page 6) 4 5

5 thank you for praying for MASSAH! * We had two Massah groups this year, maybe you read about them in our summer editions of RealTime. The first team was primarily Americans. Then we had an all Israeli team who came after, meeting up with and engaging other Israelis with the gospel in India. Prior to the India journey, each team received training and opportunities to do evangelism in Israel. Both groups did a great job. The vision for the Israeli Massah team is that they can continue ministry to other Israelis they met in India. We are so grateful that this is becoming a reality it seemed fitting to tell you about this as part of our Thanksgiving edition. One Israeli Massah participant said: One of the reasons I decided to go to Massah was to get over the hidden fear that caused me not to share the gospel. Fear which existed because of the lack of confidence and knowledge, fear of not being able to answer hard questions. This is why I came to Massah. By the third night of our training and outreach in Israel, I was singing songs on the street, handing out flyers, stopping people, talking to them and praying with them on the streets. The people of Israel are hungry and they are searching. Hopefully, God can use me to show them the way. Another team member said of the training week: I ve come to realize that we as believers don t evangelize enough, which is really sad because we have the freedom to do so, and many people, I learned, at least in Tel Aviv are very open to hear new things, and to talk about almost anything. Team leader Eli Birnbaum described one of the outreaches during the Israel phase of Massah: Our Friday night outreach was intense. We spoke to 150 people about the gospel. A really crazy idea was to set up a ping-pong table right on the street! We had an easel, a big canvas and small canvases for people to join us painting. We also put up a cardboard Wall of Thanks and invited people to write on it as some of the team sang and played guitar. Some other Jewish believers joined us, and I was encouraged to see more people wanting to join in with the evangelism. The Wall of Thanks was a great opportunity to challenge our culture which is about celebrating ourselves really to stop a moment and give thanks to God. This left me with a great opening to tell them what I am really thankful for Y shua! It was a truthfully Above: Eli sharing the gospel with 25 Israelis in India during the Feast of Tabernacles. honest expression of thanks for me, because as I see the reality of the gospel, I realize that is what I am really thankful for. Of the 50 people I talked to, almost all were touched by our desire to thank God, and some people even told me that we must do this in more places. Many were touched that our faith caused us to thank God, and to ask others to thank God. During our week of training, in total we spoke to about 300 people about the gospel and gave out 10 New Testaments. Every team member got into more than one gospel conversation on the street. The focus of the training was putting the gospel at the center of all that we do. We had several great teachers, including several former Jews for Jesus staff. Two or three team members commented to me on the quality and content of the training and how much they needed and appreciated it. * Those of you who use our prayer prompters might recall you prayed about this back in June. (continued from page 5) to hear more about Jesus. They seemed quite open. A Brazilian rabbi who did not seem so open surprisingly gave his contact information as well. In South Africa, we had a Hanukkah party in partnership with Beit Yeshua Messianic Congregation, which we jointly pastor in Johannesburg. Just over 100 people were present, including two Jewish people who are not yet believers. One, Harry, had met with our missionary Barry several times before the party. After the event, Harry phoned Barry to say how he had enjoyed this Hanukkah party more than any other he had been to, and how he had felt a sense of inclusion and love there. Pray for Harry, who now appears to have intellectual understanding of Jesus, but has yet to surrender his heart to Him. Pray for us as we are currently working on a new website for our online newsletter. Once it is launched, we will have all sorts of cool ways to bring you the very latest Jews for Jesus updates! 6

6 The following is excerpted from an article that Moishe Rosen wrote for our November 1994 newsletter. Nearly twenty years later, these words ring just as true, and so does our appreciation for each one of you who has or who will stand with us with your prayers and your support. By the time this issue of the newsletter reaches you, this year will be nearing its end. It has been an amazing year for our ministry a time of paradox, filled with victories and pain. We could have been crushed by the disappointments, but by God s grace we were not. We could have been undermined by resting in our victories or even succumbing to the selfinfatuation that such triumphs can produce. Again, by God s grace, those things did not happen because we were reminded that the triumphs and trophies were God s, not ours. Anyone who has undergone substantial trials, yet at the same time has been greatly blessed, encouraged and affirmed, will understand what I am feeling. I know that God is with us, not only because of the encouraging victories, but because of the manifold ways He has shown me that many of His people are with us. As we approach the Thanksgiving season, I am very thankful to God and very appreciative of you our friends and supporters. He has used so many of you to make this unlikely ministry possible. Jews for Jesus was, at its inception, and continues to be, an unlikely phenomenon. It is difficult for us Jews to consider Christ because as children we are indoctrinated to believe that it is impossible for an honest Jew to become a follower of Jesus. But we still thankful Jews for Jesus are living proof that Jews can and do come to Christ. Yet large-scale Jewish evangelism seemed all but an impossible endeavor. We had a vision for it, but we knew we could not do it alone. We wanted to see it happen, but we didn t know how much we could count on God s people to help. Many sincere Christians have been frightened away from Jewish evangelism because they truly thought that trying to win Jews to Christ was an exercise in futility. I am very thankful to God and very appreciative of you our friends and supporters. We thought it improbable that there would ever be many like you who could understand that with hard work, faithfulness and prayer, Jews might listen and hear and believe. We hopefully presented you with this possibility. Many of you believed with us and helped us, and Jews have come to faith in substantial numbers. I am thankful to God for you because many of you not only have supported us, but have also loved us. We sense that love. We know that your affection is given not necessarily because we are so lovable, but because you love the Lord. Time and again I have pointed out to our staff that anyone who prayer prompters Please pray for: our Behold Your God Israel campaign this month! our holiday outreaches around the world (p. 4ff.) continued ministry to Israelis met during Massah (p. 6) grace and strength for new Jewish believers Staci and Alex in New York, and also for Yosef in Israel, and his Arab friend who just received the Lord (p. 8) God s continued blessing and guidance in raising the next generation of Jews for Jesus sends a donation to Jews for Jesus does so because he or she is motivated by love, faith and hope. When Jews for Jesus began years ago, we were prepared to do a great deal less than God has allowed us to accomplish. We were prepared to go it alone. We never imagined that we would have such dedicated Christians come alongside to help us. I guess I should have had more faith. I should have believed that God would do more than I expected. As we move into the special fall season of praising God for His goodness, I praise Him not only for His goodness, but also for your goodness, for your friendship and your support. Just to have you care is a blessing. We are blessed more than we can say, and we are thankful to God for each of you. 7

7 New York Susan Mendelson reports, I recently had the privilege of praying with a Jewish woman named Staci to receive the Lord! Her story goes to show how the Lord works in families. A couple of years ago, a Christian contacted our San Francisco branch asking if someone would be in touch with her husband, Marv, a Jewish man who did not know Jesus. Rob Wertheim, our San Francisco branch leader, was our missionary in closest proximity to Marv, who lives in Nevada. When Rob called, Marv was friendly, but not quite ready for regular ministry. Rob phoned him again a few months later, and they began meeting regularly by phone. Within a few months, Marv came to faith. He and Rob continue to meet by Skype. Recently, Marv spoke to Rob about his daughter in Long Island. Rob asked if I would contact her and I did. She was clearly open and, within just a few weeks, Staci surrendered her heart to the Lord. Please pray for her and also that her fourteen-year-old daughter will also say yes to Jesus in the days to come. Stewart Weinisch reports, Karol Joseph met Alex at Union Square Park during the first week of this year s Summer Witnessing Campaign. Alex, a Jewish seeker, attended three of our open lectures and four Shabbat dinners and had many conversations with various Jews for Jesus staff. After the last campaign Shabbat dinner Alex asked me, Is that it? I replied, Now I meet with you privately. He was very excited about that. During our first one-on-one meeting, he received Y shua! bits from the BRANCHES I invited Alex to come with me to Beth Messiah Congregation, and since he was willing to go, I picked him up. I also take Herman to Beth Messiah with me. He was not a believer when we met, but I was blessed to minister to him and see him receive Jesus about a year and a half ago. As we were driving home, what an amazing encouragement it was to me to hear Herman, a fairly new believer, encouraging Alex in his brand new faith! And to top it all off, the last thing Alex said to me was, So, can you pick me up next week? Israel Oded Cohen reports, We shared in June how Yosef * (who is homeless) overheard us street preaching and prayed with us to receive the Lord. We ve been trying to be a support to him, including contacting social services on his behalf. We have also been trying to meet weekly with him. During our last visit, Yosef was with his good friend, a Muslim Arab (who Bimini and Avigail witnessed to a few months ago). So naturally, his friend joined in our conversation. We were so glad to be able to share with him as well. After we spoke for a while, we read them a few stories from the New Testament and we asked his friend if he believed. To our delight and surprise, he said that he did believe, and he wanted to pray to ask Jesus into his heart as his personal Lord and Savior. He then asked for a New Testament in Arabic or English because, though he speaks Hebrew, he cannot read Hebrew. We encouraged Yosef to read a portion of the New Testament in Hebrew to his friend every day, so that they might share their thoughts and discuss it. They were very excited about that. We are a bit sad and concerned because the last couple of times we went to Yosef s spot, we couldn t find him. We pray that it s because he has a place to stay; he does have family in Israel. Please pray for Yosef s and his friend s faith in the Lord to grow, and also for Yosef s living situation. Use our onlinextra link on page three to find a really encouraging bonus bit from Israel! *Not his real name