End-Times Archives - Page 2 of 20 - The New Antisemitism

March 7, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 9 Comments

Is the Antisemitic “Goyim Defense League” the New Normal?

In 1968, Rabbi Meir Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) whose motto was, “To protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary.” The organization might have started as a noble cause, necessary for the safety of Jewish people; but it quickly became a violent group responsible for attacks, bombings and even a few deaths. The founder himself was assassinated in 1990. The JDL still exists today and has been classified as a right-wing terrorist group by the FBI since 2001. Originally, the JDL claimed that they were there to do the job that the ADL wasn’t doing.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is an international Jewish NGO based in the United States that was founded in 1913. While the JDL is inactive for the most part, the ADL has become a voice for civil rights and against antisemitism.

The Goyim Defense League (GDL), using its name as the counterpart to the JDL, is a completely different animal. The word goyim is plural for goy, which in Hebrew means “nation” or “nations”, another name for the Gentiles. Their logo is some sort of parody of the ADL logo, using the colors red, black and white–subliminally or not–similar to the Nazi logo. The GDL was founded in California in 2018 by Jon Minadeo II. They are a very antisemitic/conspiracy theory group that targets Jews in whatever way they can. They used to be a fringe group that no one really took too seriously, but lately, they have been present and vocal in 17 states.

Their recent activity includes antisemitic flyers about age-old Jewish world domination. The flyers are printed, stuffed in plastic bags with pebbles or beans and thrown in neighborhoods on people’s driveways or placed on car windshields.

Additionally, some of their members have been spotted in California, Texas and Florida, displaying banners on highway overpasses with messages such as “Kanye is right about the Jews” referring to Kanye West’s recent rant against Jewish people.
Jon Minadeo was also spotted recently in Florida where he was insulting Jewish people on the street with a bullhorn, accompanied by a few other of his GDL cronies. He yelled “should we put you in an oven” to a passerby and insulted a Jewish man in his car, calling him “Jew Horse” and telling him to go back to his country, Israel where “they kill Palestinian kids”. The whole episode took place while he was laughing and insulting people as the police watched silently, and no passersby said a word.

Groups like GDL/GoyimTV used to be on the fringe of the antisemitic circle, and not taken very seriously. Why are they suddenly becoming more vocal? It is part of what I have identified as the normalization of antisemitism. Normal is the opposite of abnormal, so normalization is a process that takes an abnormal belief or behavior and manages to change it or its perception so that it will be perceived as normal. It can refer to data, diplomatic relations, economics, biology or sociology. The sociological aspect of normalization is the one that affects antisemitism.

Satan has worked for a long time to make the irrational look rational. This is also a component of the normalization of antisemitism, but only to the extent that the words and deeds committed against the Jews move from being done by identifiable antisemites to being done by all people without reprimand. We must clearly understand the two factors at stake here: legal and societal. Legally, normalization exonerates one from ramifications for committing an act that previously was punishable by law. No arrest, indictment, lawsuit, trial, verdict or imprisonment is to be feared. Societally, these acts go from being judged, ostracized or demonized to normal behavior. This takes these acts from being disturbing to acceptable.

One should quickly understand that if antisemitism were to undergo the process of complete normalization, it would trigger an “open season” against Jews globally and bring us back full force into the 1930s and 1940s. It would be an irreversible tipping point. Unfortunately, I fear that we might have reached that tipping point. While those of us who value Israel and appreciate the Jewish people are becoming a very slim minority, now is not the time to cave into the majority. We have some tough choices to make.

I am not necessarily interested in the source of the various stages of the normalization of antisemitism–already knowing that one way or another, they all come from Satan–but more in their status as of the start of 2023. I see ten stages: Apathy, lack of education, low or incorrect reporting, desensitization, lack of accountability, empowerment, demonization of the defenders, persecution of Jews and defenders, encouragement to kill and the mass murder of Jews. While I believe they feed off each other, these stages do not have to happen exactly in the order just listed; they can occur simultaneously and overlap.

For a group like the Goyim Defense League to gain momentum, we must be within the boundaries of normalization. Eight of the ten stages can be found in the actions of the GDL in Florida: Apathy, lack of education, low or incorrect reporting, desensitization, lack of accountability, empowerment, demonization of the defenders, persecution of Jews and defenders. Short of encouragement to kill and the mass murder of Jews, the GDL is promoting the normalization of antisemitism.

For those of us who despise this kind of xenophobic behavior, the time is NOW to expose these people. We might feel like our voice will never be heard, but if we report these actions to Jewish advocacy groups, we can make a difference. This is a spiritual battle and all of us are soldiers on the frontlines. Let us fight together for the vindication and salvation of Israel. Remember that silence is complicity, so if you see, hear or read something, report it to any of these organizations:

STANDWITHUS.COM
CANARYMISSION.ORG
MOMENTMAG.COM/ANTISEMITISM-MONITOR
CAMERA.ORG
MACCABEETASKFORCE.ORG
ADL.ORG/ADL-TRACKER
MEMRI.ORG

February 16, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 51 Comments

The Rapture: One Second Before and One Second After!

One of the most talked about subjects in the Bible is the rapture. People have many opinions on the topic, to be sure. From myth to reality, from literal to allegorical – and everything in between. However, when believed to be literal, it is then placed all over the eschatological spectrum. Did it already happen? Will it happen before the tribulation? During the tribulation? After? In other words…there are more views about the rapture than we can shake a stick at. I don’t intend to write another article defending the pre-tribulation and pre-millennial rapture, but here we go. I will state my position from the start and assert that the rapture will occur before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (the Great Tribulation) begins.

Incidentally, there is more than one Rapture mentioned in the Bible. Including the Rapture of the Believers, there are possibly eight different Raptures. Enoch was raptured in Genesis 5:24, Elijah was taken up in 2 Kings 2:11-12, and Yeshua was caught up in Revelation 12:5. Philip (Acts 8:39-40) and Paul (2 Corinthians 123:1-4) were temporarily raptured. John was possibly raptured in Revelation 4:1-2, the believers will be raptured according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and finally, the two witnesses in Revelation 11:11-12. So, the future Rapture of the believers is one of several, but definitely the most important in the history of mankind.

Taking a pre-tribulational and pre-millennial position, when we read 1 Corinthians 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed,” we are told of a “last trumpet.” Many will argue that this is a reference to the last trumpet in God’s prophetic program as in Revelation 11:15. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, the subject is the Church being caught up in the sky to be with Yeshua. The trumpet of God’s grace sounds to announce that event. It also connects to the Tekiah Gedolah or last trumpet of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah (this doesn’t necessitate for the Rapture to happen on Rosh Hashanah. It could, but it doesn’t have to). On the other hand, the trumpet in Revelation 11:15 is within a different context. It relates to a fallen, rebellious world and the judgment of sinners and is part of a progressive series of judgments during the Great Tribulation. There is no thematic connection between 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Revelation 11:15.
Two more pressing questions must be answered:

What happens one second BEFORE the Rapture? Since the Rapture is imminent (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 5:4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 John 3:2-3), anything can be happening one second before the Rapture. There is absolutely no exact sign that we can expect before the Rapture. Some people call it “signless. It could happen at any moment. In his book Kept from the Hour, Gerald Stanton defines the imminence of the Rapture as follows: “The certainty that He may come at any moment, the uncertainty of the time of that arrival, and the fact that no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour.” Other events may happen before the Rapture, but certainly not because they must happen. Too often, those who believe in the pre-millennial rapture of the church try to pinpoint exactly when that is expected. However, they probably have the rapture and second coming confused. It is easy to identify the timing of the Second Coming since it will happen at the end of the Seven-Year Tribulation. At the Rapture, Yeshua gets the believers and takes us to Heaven, and He never touches the ground. At the Second Coming, He touches the ground and splits the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) as He returns with the believers.

In other words, nobody knows the moment of the Rapture, so we’d better be ready. Live like it could happen any second, but plan like it won’t. Those of us who believe in an imminent pre-tribulational Rapture should not adopt an attitude of escapism, but we should double up our efforts to speak the Gospel truth to those who don’t yet have a personal relationship with Yeshua.

What happens one second AFTER the Rapture? This is the real question to focus on because Yeshua Airlines consists of only one flight up, and that’s it. Once we fly away, whoever is left behind will have to deal with the consequences triggered by the Great Tribulation one way or another. The Great Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), will last seven years (Daniel 9:26-27). It is a time when God will refocus His program on Israel and the Jewish people. Sadly, the result of that period is that two-thirds of the Jewish people will perish (Zechariah 13:8-9). The most intense trouble doesn’t start until the Tribulation’s mid-point when the Antichrist reveals His true nature and demands to be worshipped. That is also when people will take the mark of the beast or refuse it. The sad truth about that time is that one second after the Rapture, it is too late for people to escape the upcoming wrath of God. It is not too late to refuse the mark of the beast and not worship the Antichrist, but that will almost certainly result in people suffering great harm and dying as Tribulation martyrs. It could all have been avoided if they had been Raptured.

Ultimately the choice is ours. We are not coerced into anything; we are just invited to trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and the Savior of the world. One second before or one second after seems like nothing, yet it makes all the difference in the world. Will you be on the flight, or will you go through the fight? This is a flight you shouldn’t miss, but this will be a gruesome fight you might not win.

February 6, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

This is Why We Must Study Prophecy!

Almost 30% of the Bible is prophecy, so why would we not study nearly a third of the Bible? Yet, on one side of the spectrum, many churches and pastors refrain from teaching prophecies; on the other side, just about anything goes regarding prophecies on the internet. Where is the balance? I believe that the balance can only be found if we apply a very specific method of interpretation known as grammatical/historical, literal hermeneutics, remaining faithful to the original context. It is worth repeating that a text without a context is a pretext!

The prophets looked forward to Messiah as the meaning of their prophecies (Messiah, Savior and redeemer as found in 1 Peter 1:10-12): “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look.’
On the other side of the cross, the apostles looked back on Yeshua as the one who fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Tanach. We, too, look forward to the Messiah as fulfilled from the Old Testament prophecies. There is so much to be gained by studying prophecies:

We Study Prophecy Because It is part of the Bible: All words given to us in the Bible are there for a reason. In some cases, we get the whole meaning upon a more in-depth study, but it is all there for us to live by.
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

We Study Prophecy Because God worked through His prophets: The prophets of old were God’s mouthpiece. They were the messengers of God who delivered His message to men as the priests delivered Man’s message to God. Being through dreams, visions or direct dialogue, God worked through His carefully selected prophets.
Amos 3:7 Certainly the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret plan To His servants the prophets.

And He also rejected false prophets: Many men came and went through Bible history claiming to be prophets of God but speaking a different message far away from God’s truth. A biblical prophet only had to be 100% accurate 100% of the time. No pressure, right? By the way, there is no indication in the Word of God that “modern-day prophets” fall under a different standard.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name, a word which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.

We Study Prophecy Because Paul referred to the prophets: A substantial portion of the New Testament was written by the Apostle Paul, who referred to the Law and the Prophets (a euphemism for the Tanach.) He validated the importance of learning from the prophets of old.
Romans 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.

We Study Prophecy Because Yeshua referred to the prophets: The Messiah Himself quoted from many of the Prophets of old. His teachings often took the audience back to the truth first delivered by prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and so many more.
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

We Study Prophecy Because It Validates the Bible: Suppose we take silver dollars and lay them on the surface of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly all over the state. Blindfold someone and tell them to travel as far as they wish, but they must pick up one silver dollar, and it has to be the marked one. What chance would they have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing only eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.

We Study Prophecy Because It Strengthens Our Faith: God has always been in control of all events of history. We are comforted with the fact that in the Word, He gave us Messianic prophecies that were all literally fulfilled in ONE person, and likewise, the future, yet-unfulfilled prophecies will also be literally fulfilled.
John 14:1-4“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”
As believers in Yeshua, we rest in the fact that God knows and controls the future. The events of the Second Coming are guaranteed by those of the first coming. This is why the Second Coming is called the “blessed hope.”
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua,
Based on prophecy and in light of the fact that the Lord could return at any moment, we should strive to lead lives that are pleasing to Him. (Titus 2:14; 2 Peter 3:13-14). In the effort to lead better lives for Him, we cannot avoid closer to God.
Titus 2:14: …” who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”
2 Peter 3:13-14: …” But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace….”

We Study Prophecy Because it Equips Us to Share with the Lost: To understand who Messiah is based on the picture painted in the Tanach. By studying Messianic prophecies in the Tanach (Old Testament), we discover that through progressive revelation, God has granted us increasing knowledge about the person, character, timeline and redemptive career of the Messiah at His First and Second Coming. To understand who Messiah is based on the Objections to the Messiahship of Yeshua Once we understand the meaning of each prophecy, we can study and compare the Jewish objections. Eventually, as the prophecies are studied within the grammatical/historical context, they all point to the same person: Yeshua of Nazareth.

We regularly run into prophecies as we study the Bible or in our daily devotions. If we ignore them every time we see them, we will ignore almost a third of the instruction manual God left for us. How can we properly function and behave if we only pay attention to two out of three verses in the Bible? Ignoring prophecy will impair us and force us to come to conclusions that are not in line with the whole counsel of God, and that is a very slippery slope I am not willing to get on, especially in a day and age when Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in front of our very eyes.

January 21, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

The Biblical Case for Israel’s Right to the Land Should Be a Slam Dunk!

Israel continues to be in the news almost daily. Now they have a newly formed government coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. Many critics of the new coalition are voicing their concern regarding the fact that Bibi had to form a coalition with some leaders who are more on the right than on the political spectrum. There was a gathering of 80,000 people on the streets of Tel Aviv to protest some of the moves the new coalition wants to make in the legal arena. People in Israel fear the survival of the only true democracy in the Middle East. Added to that is the constant tension about the land and the expansion of Jewish settlements.

The accusation of colonization and occupation–a fabricated narrative from the 1960s–is now well-seared into people’s brains. Very few, if any, in the mainstream media are questioning the validity of such a claim. Nothing shows how wildly accepted the “Palestinian Narrative “is more than the recent artifact “returned” to the Palestinian authority. A 2,700-year-old spoon from the Assyrian empire was confiscated from its owner as a part of a criminal case. It was then given to the Palestinian Authority and described as a “historic repatriation.”

Let’s not miss the point here. A significant shift just occurred. For the last sixty years, the Palestinian narrative has been part of anti-Jewish propaganda to turn Israel into “Palestine” so that the rightful original and indigenous original occupants could return. The narrative has become truth, and now is the time to begin validating it with artifacts and antiquities. Enter “the spoon,” heralded as “an example of Palestinian cultural patrimony.” This will undoubtedly be followed by more artifacts to enrich the history of a people that never existed–at least until their introduction to the world by Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1960s.

Jewish history has been rewritten to rob the Jewish people of their heritage, culture, customs, and, last but not least, their land: Eretz Yisrael! I wish the Palestinian Authority would be honest about their goals like PLO executive member Zahir Muhsein was in an interview for a Dutch newspaper in 1977, “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.” He was very transparent and admitted that the Palestinian people were invented solely for political gain. Let’s look at a few points made by the Bible as it pertains to Israel and the land.

• The Land ultimately belongs to God: God has granted the title deed to the Jewish people forever, but ultimately, it is His land.
‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine; for you are only strangers and residents with Me (Leviticus 25:23.)

• The Land was given to Abraham and his descendants by God: God has given the Land of Canaan to the Jewish people ONLY through Abraham and his descendants
And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7, 13:15.)

• The Land grant was based on an unconditional covenant with Abraham: God made a covenant with Abraham, but only the Shechinah glory of God passed through the split animals making it eternal, and God said, “I will,” making the covenant unconditional.
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹⁷Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, ²⁰the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.” (Genesis 15:12, 17-21.)

• The Land grant was based on specific boundaries that should never be expanded: While the current size of Israel (about the size of New Jersey) is not what the millennial size (twice Texas) will be, even the specific boundaries of the more significant Israel are not expandable by one foot. There isn’t one country in the world that would have to abide by biblical boundaries and not try to expand its territory through war or other human means. Israel is unique in that regard.
⁴and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; ⁵do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.” (Deuteronomy 2:4-5.)
¹⁸‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab. ¹⁹When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ (Deuteronomy 2:18-19.)

• The Land was to Abraham, then Isaac (never Ishmael) and then Jacob (never Esau): While the land was first promised to Abraham, the promise was repeated through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob.
Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; ⁶but to the sons of ^[a]his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east. (Genesis 25:5-6.)
Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. (Genesis 26:3.)
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples. ⁴May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, so that you may possess the land where you live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” (Genesis 28:3-4.)

• The Land grant is only based on God’s character, never on Israel’s performance: Israel was sent into captivity more than once, but God, while He disciplined the Jewish people, never rescinded on His promise.
Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so loathe them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’” (Leviticus 26:44-45.)

• God’s promise to Israel is as unmovable as the universe He created: God gives the ultimate recipe for the guaranteed destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, but He makes it impossible.
³⁵This is what the Lord says, He who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— The Lord of armies is His name: ³⁶“If this fixed order departs From Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease To be a nation before Me forever.” ³⁷This is what the Lord says: “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

These are seven points out of many more I could make to validate this claim. I am well aware that a biblical defense of Israel’s right to the land will only work with those who hold the Bible as the inerrant word of God. My measuring stick has been the Bible for the last 40 years, and I know that one day I will have to answer to God, not for my salvation which I received 40 years ago as a gift from God through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua of Nazareth, but for how I served and obeyed after He rescued me. Many Bible believers today do not see a future for Israel and buy into the false narrative of the Palestinians as an ethnic group. It is to them that this article is addressed.

We cannot change God, we cannot change His character, and since His promises and covenants are rooted in His character, we cannot change them either. What people can always do, though, is to study the facts of history alongside the promises of the Bible. If Israel weren’t in God’s plan, from a human perspective, we would have been long gone, but we still exist and are growing stronger against all odds. So, the Bible is one aspect of why we survived all the attempts at decimating us. Add history, politics, and archeology to that foundational truth, and the case is a slam dunk for those who are honest and humble enough to admit it.

January 13, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

Could This Man Have Saved My Jewish Mother?

In the summer of 1942 in Paris, Evelyn Weinzveig saw her dad for the very last time as two officers from the Gestapo escorted him outside of his home in front of the teenager’s very eyes. He would die in Auschwitz shortly after. It was clearly no longer safe for Evelyn and her mother to remain in Paris. They had to move south toward the Zone Libre (free zone). Unfortunately, safe movement within France had become nearly impossible for Jews. Evelyn had to wear the infamous yellow star she hated so much. Evelyn’s mother got organized and did what many had to do during the war–she acquired false papers. Evelyn was soon put on a train at the Paris Gare de Lyon en route for the Southwest of France with her two cousins, Richard and Nicole. All three had been given false papers to help their escape. All three were hidden on a farm and survived the war and the Holocaust. Evelyn was my mother!

Many factors must be considered in my mother’s survival, not the least being the courage of the family who hid her and her two cousins for the last two years of the war. This couple of French peasants were added to the “Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations” wall of remembrance in Jerusalem in 2013. Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that the three teenagers would have probably never made it to that farm without their false papers. As the three cousins and my grandmother are now gone, I might never know how they obtained their false papers, but there is a strong possibility that it might have been through the network and talent of one man: Adolpho Kaminsky.

Adolpho Kaminsky passed away in his Paris home on Monday, January 9, 2023, at the age of 97. This Jewish man has become one of my heroes. He was born in Argentina in 1925 to Russian immigrants who soon moved to Paris, France. His parents had escaped the Russian pogroms, moved to South America, and then to Paris in 1930, unaware of the ominous future awaiting the Jews of Europe. Adolpho started working for a clothes dyer and learned about colors and mixing. Eventually, at the beginning of the war, he and his family were sent to the Greater Paris train station in Drancy, awaiting deportation to one of the many concentration camps. Because they had Argentine papers, they were released and went into hiding through the Resistance and the creation of his own false papers.

He wanted to work to help his saviors and told them that he had worked for a clothes dyer and could erase just about all ink stains. His career as a forger had just begun. It is believed that Adolpho’s work during World War Two saved the lives of 14,000 Jews, the vast majority of them knowing nothing about the man who produced the forged documents to help them at a critical time. When asked why he did all this, Adolpho responded, “I saved lives because I can’t deal with unnecessary deaths — I just can’t,” all humans are equal, whatever their origins, their beliefs, their skin color. There are no superiors, no inferiors. That is not acceptable for me.” Adolpho continued to forge papers for various causes and many countries for years to come until he became too old, and his hand and eyes no longer allowed him to create the documents.

So, could this man have saved my Jewish mother and her two cousins? Were they three of the 14,000 Jews he helped? We will never know, but his story of courage and determination against all odds remains an example for us today. It warrants the question for Bible believers, “Is it acceptable to lie to save a life?” This question might not have been at the forefront of people’s minds for a while. Still, considering the recent terrifying rise in antisemitism, it might become an issue sooner than later.

In the Tanach, in Joshua 2, Rahab, the prostitute, hid Jewish spies and lied about their location to protect them from their enemies. The spies are spared, Rahab and her family live to tell the story and she even ends up in the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah (Matthew 1:5), her status also earning her a place in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31. Was it OK for Rahab to lie? This is a debated issue. It would seem that God saved Rahab because of her unwavering faith in the God of Israel in spite of being a prostitute, but God never condones lying. Yet, some will argue that deception is allowable in times of war. I do not pretend to have an answer to that controversial question. Still, I exist today because my mother got false papers and benefitted from a family of farmers who lied to Nazis in their village. God doesn’t condone lying, but is it possible that He would allow people to act a certain way for a greater purpose that only He understands?

I will never know the deepest recesses of Adolpho Kaminsky’s heart, except that he was troubled enough seeing innocent people die that he had to do his part to save some. He did way more by himself than many people combined would ever do in their lifetime. I choose to believe that I exist today by God’s grace and maybe through the providence, penmanship and genius of Adolpho Kaminsky or someone else like him. When we as believers are faced with decisions to make that might not be popular in the world we live in, we must always remember that, ultimately, we answer to the God of the universe. Those who chose to commit civil disobedience will always walk on very thin ice from a human perspective, just like Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego did when they refused to bow down to the statue Nebuchadnezzar erected. Still, from God’s perspective, we know He’s got our back.

Yeshua (Jesus) would have still given His life as ransom were it only to save me from eternal damnation. Of course, His death was for many more people than just me, but to God, one life is enough to save. How much is a life worth to us and how far are we willing to go save it?

Thank you, Mr. Kaminsky, for your bravery, compassion and dedication and may your memory be a blessing to many!

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