Israel Archives - Page 2 of 58 - The New Antisemitism

January 25, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 5 Comments

The Silenced Six Million Are Crying Out!

When someone cannot defend themselves, they count on others to come to the rescue, and when it comes to the Holocaust, the others are you and me. As it turns out, the silenced six million are counting on us never to be forgotten. International Holocaust Remembrance Day It is different from Yom HaShoah (Day of the Catastrophe), which falls annually, a week after Passover in Israel (started in 1953). Since 2005, each year, on January 27, the international community remembers the Holocaust in various ways, from synagogue services to vigils to educational events that include Holocaust survivors or scholars. Yet, survivors are dwindling to a few thousand globally. Considering that anybody born at the onset of the war in 1939 would be eighty-four years old today, most survivors of the Holocaust are in their nineties. Soon, they will all be in our memories. Or will they?

Some clueless teenagers were recently spotted on TikTok pretending to be in the Holocaust. These teenagers put makeup on their faces to look emaciated and write pretend captions such as”I died in the Holocaust” and receive comments such as “I myself have been gassed over 6,000,000 times!!!” These young people are belittling the worst carnage against the Jewish people in the history of mankind; they think it is funny and their followers do too. That is not even considering all the other social networks getting away with posts about the Holocaust, going from ridiculing it to denying it.

The danger is threefold. First, we have a disappearing group of first-hand witnesses of the horrors of the Holocaust. In another five years, they might all be gone since the survivors are almost all in their nineties. Second, an uneducated and offensive younger generation is mocking the Holocaust and its victims online or in person. Finally, we have a growing number of people who minimize, alter or deny the catastrophe. As the survivors disappear and the new generation mocks the tragedy, it will only encourage those who choose to deny the Holocaust ever happened, and this breaks my heart.

As the international community commemorates the Holocaust on January 27, I am glad to see that some efforts are still being made, never to forget. Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem is inaugurating its book of names at an exhibit at the UN headquarters in NY. The Book of Names contains 4,800,000 of the 6,00o,000 names of the Holocaust victims. One of them is my grandfather Maurice Weinzveig. What else can we do?

Listen to a Holocaust survivor: This is a very effective way to learn about the event from a first-hand witness. The challenge is that in 2023, their number is exponentially reducing by virtue of their age. If you know one or are invited to hear one, I think you should take advantage of the opportunity. Additionally, the staff at Shadows of Shoah brings many testimonies from survivors on video and, by that medium, renders their unique stories eternal. The Steven Spielberg Shoah Foundation also has over 50,000 video testimonies of survivors, including my dad Georges Melnick.

Visit a Death Camp: In November of 2010, I traveled to Krakow, Poland, to visit the remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where my maternal Grandfather Maurice Weinzveig was taken by the Gestapo from Paris in the Summer of 1942. I am set to visit again in the summer of 2023. The Death Camps are some eerie monuments left over from one of the darkest periods of mankind’s history. If possible, everybody, and most definitely every Christian, should walk through one of them once in their lifetime.

Visit a Holocaust Memorial Museum: The most extensive and most elaborate of them–Yad Vashem–is located in Jerusalem. I make a point of taking the people there each time I lead a tour to Israel. It is a must! It is a difficult visit punctuated by visual and audio markers that will undoubtedly leave an impression on you for many years. There are other Holocaust Memorials, several in the United States. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles are just two of them. The list is much longer and warrants several different visits if possible.

Read an account of the Holocaust: There is a tremendous collection of Holocaust literature in many languages. From survivors’ accounts to biographies, historical accounts, and even poems. Every human being should read the short but life-altering account of Elie Wiesel’s time at Auschwitz-Birkenau with his father when he was only 15. As told in his autobiography Night, his story of resilience and survival against all odds is very dark. A detailed and accurate account of the Holocaust can be found in Lucy Dawidowicz The War Against the Jews or in The destruction of the European Jews by Raul Hilberg.

The silent six million are indeed crying out. It is heart-wrenching even to think their memory could disappear from history. To bring a little perspective to the 6,000.000 and to understand that they are much more than just a number–even though the tattooed forearm was an attempt at dehumanizing the victims–if we were to recite all the names of the 6,000,000 innocent victims of the Holocaust, it would take us 11.5 years nonstop day and night.

Please, tell your loved ones, especially the younger generation about the Holocaust. Don’t wait for schools or museums to do our jobs. We owe it to the silenced six million, so let us not be indifferent!

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
(Elie Wiesel)

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!

December 29, 2022 By Olivier Melnick 7 Comments

Orthodox Rabbis Confirming End-Times Prophecy?

An article emerged a few days before Christmas claiming that “Rabbis Bring Jesus Home for Christmas.” Naturally, it got my attention. Not to mention the fact that several people sent the article to me and expressed their excitement after reading it. Over two dozen orthodox rabbis from around the world issued a joint statement “calling for a renewed look at Jesus, Christians and the New Testament faith. ” Frankly, I live for moments like these, so my initial reaction was a joyful surprise. Are some orthodox rabbis truly accepting the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus)? Have these men become Messianic believers? Could this be the start of a revival within the global Jewish community? The conclusion might surprise you!

The article was written by an Israeli Jewish believer in Yeshua, David Lazarus, who mentioned Yeshua several times. It quotes the rabbis saying, “Jesus brought a double goodness to the world,” further claiming that Yeshua “strengthened the Torah of Moses.” Lazarus quoted other parts of the Rabbis’ statement that clearly indicated the desire for true rapprochement between Christians and Jews. Considering the times we live in, this could be very good news. This will certainly not eradicate antisemitism since the longest hatred–a spiritual battle generated and fueled by Satan–will not come to an end until Yeshua returns at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. Can it help in the healing of Jewish/Christian relations? Absolutely, and this alone is a reason to rejoice!

My intention is not to burst the bubble of hope created by the statement, but before Israel-loving evangelicals rejoice, we might want to take a look at the statement itself. While it offers many positives, they are not necessarily what Christians might think. It was spearheaded by a commendable organization called the “Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding & Cooperation.” In their mission statement, they declare the following, “Now that we as a people and a nation have returned to history, and the Christian world is beginning to recognize the continuing legitimacy of its elder brother’s covenant, grafting itself onto us as a branch is grafted to the roots, we must each complete our return to God, join hands and bring a religion of love, morality, pluralism and peace to a desperate, thirsting world. ” Additionally, the statement dates from 2015. I am not sure why it was quoted as if it was recent, but it raises some very important questions that still need to be addressed.

The goal is to work towards rebuilding Jewish/Christian relations. While they certainly do not speak for all Jewish denominations across the spectrum, being a group of orthodox, pious Torah scholars pushing for a better world through mutual acceptance certainly deserves our attention. The topics discussed in their statement include Judaism, Christianity, God, Jesus and antisemitism. Here are some of the points they make that are worth analyzing to understand their desire further. The statement divides into seven articles, each worth mentioning. The bold part summarizes the main point made in the statement, followed by my analysis.

1. Failure of Jews and Christians to reconcile after the Holocaust created fertile soil for antisemitism to grow: The Holocaust (Shoah) remains a unique defining catastrophe on the timeline of Jewish history. While it is true that 2,000 years of animosity and violence coming from the Church were a major factor leading to the death of six million Jews (among other groups), not all perpetrators were Christians. In fact, it could be argued–maybe in another article–that none of the perpetrators and bystanders of the Holocaust were true Christians. Nevertheless, the abysmal divide between Christians and Jews that resulted from the Holocaust allowed other enemies of the Jews to contribute further to the erosion of Judeo/Christian relations. So, in a sense, it is true that this loss of trust resulted in further damage.

2. The Second Vatican Council (1965) contributed to a reconciliation between Jews and Christians: This was a milestone for the Catholic Church. Finally, after more than 1,900 years, it was officially declared that the Jewish people shouldn’t be held responsible for the death of Christ. This has indeed led to more interfaith dialogue and well-needed healing between Jews and Catholics.

3. The emergence of Christianity is G-d’s way to separate partners, not enemies: 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli once said that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled.” What a simple but powerful statement! Unfortunately, a theological wedge was placed between Jews and Christians. It progressively grew and separated the two. In their statement, the contemporary rabbis quote respected giants of Judaism, Maimonides (Rambam) and Judah HaLevi as their inspiration to accept Christianity as a valid religion. The signatories further declare, “Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal Covenant between G-d and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes.” The goal is clear from the statement, it is “world redemption,” also known in Judaism as Tikkun Olam. Not to be missed is the last part of that paragraph stating that the signatories do not fear Christian conversion due to this new relationship. Would all Christians truly adhere to a complete cessation of sharing the Gospel for the sake of reconciliation? This might be too broad a statement.

4. It is G-d’s desire for Christians to be loving partners: I couldn’t agree more with that part of the declaration. Bible-believing Christians have no choice but to love and support the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalm 83:1-5). The way Christians express their love may vary, though. It can go from regular prayer for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) to humanitarian help to sharing the Gospel. Yet, it would seem that sharing the Gospel with the Jewish people didn’t make the cut on the list of proof of why Judaism and Christianity should work together. I tend to believe that the acceptance of Yeshua’s free gift of salvation through His death and resurrection for our sins IS the ultimate way to love the Jewish people.

5. Jews and Christians have more in common than what separates them: The rabbis continued by listing what connects Jews and Christians “The ethical monotheism of Abraham; the relationship with the One Creator of Heaven and Earth, Who loves and cares for all of us; Jewish Sacred Scriptures; a belief in a binding tradition; and the values of life, family, compassionate righteousness, justice, inalienable freedom, universal love and ultimate world peace.” The reason we speak of Judeo/Christian ethics is that the same principles are at the foundation of Judaism and biblical Christianity. We truly have much to gain in mutual acceptance. It will lead to cooperation and Christians and Jews are now at a crossroads where working together can only strengthen us against the enemy.

6. A true partnership doesn’t negate differences; it embraces them: The statement continues by clearly speaking of two different religions for two different communities, allowing for God to “employ many messengers to reveal His truth.” This is where I get nervous because this sounds like there is more than one way to get to G-d. Is the G-d of Judaism the same G-d found in Christianity? Well, if we believe that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled,” the answer must be yes! But do we get to G-d the same way? It seems that within Judaism, we strive to keep Torah to hopefully be accepted by G-d. In contrast, within Christianity, we strive to serve and obey G-d after He accepted us in His family through Yeshua’s sacrificial death and resurrection. These are theological polar opposites.

7. Christians and Jews can redeem the world: In their concluding paragraph, the signatories boldly declared, “In imitating G-d, Jews and Christians must offer models of service, unconditional love and holiness. We are all created in G-d’s Holy Image, and Jews and Christians will remain dedicated to the Covenant by playing an active role together in redeeming the world.” This, again, is the concept of Tikkun Olam. It speaks of redeeming or repairing the world to make it a better place for all mankind. While the concept is very commendable when one reads the whole counsel of G-d, the narrative leads us toward a universal need for a redeemer for mankind. That redeemer came two thousand years ago in the person of Yeshua, who paid the ultimate price by dying for our sins (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). So, in the spirit of Tikkun Olam, only Yeshua can repair the world, and He will do just that at His Second Coming.

So, where does that leave this group of rabbis who are desperately trying to usher in a genuine reconciliation between Christians and Jews? There is nothing wrong with their noble effort. This will help both communities fight bigotry and antisemitism together better. Yet, this is not the same as claiming Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, which the article never does. By calling for more common ground between the two communities, this group of orthodox rabbis might help soften the hearts of many Jewish people towards Christians and biblical Christianity. Still, they never claim that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Could it be that these honorable Jewish men from all around the world are setting the stage for the coming of the 144,000 Jewish men who will play a key role in sharing the message of salvation during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7)? Without setting dates but looking at work events through the lens of end-times prophecies, it is entirely possible that some of them might even be part of the 144,000 unbeknownst to them as of yet.

No matter how you look at it, this statement seems to be another piece in the end-times puzzle, and the final picture is becoming so clear!

December 5, 2022 By Olivier Melnick 6 Comments

Christians and Jews Must Fight the Beast of Antisemitism Together!

There are many things that Christians and Jews don’t agree on, the main one being Yeshua (Jesus). While I wholeheartedly agree with 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli who said that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled,” Judeo/Christian relations have been complicated over the centuries. Many will agree that Christianity started as a Jewish sect. Still, over time, the Jewish heritage eroded, and the Gentile Christians couldn’t or refused to relate to their Jewish brethren. A theological wedge was placed between Jews and Christians. It progressively grew and separated the two, to the point where from a Jewish sect not knowing what to do with Gentiles; we now look at a Gentile faith not being able to relate to Jewish people.

Despite this great divide, Jews and Christians can still find reasons to join forces when a cause is worthy of their partnership. While both sides might feel like they have the right answers to spirituality and never agree, when it comes to fighting antisemitism, the fight belongs to both Jews and Christians individually and corporately. There is no doubt in my mind that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world but let us set aside this argument and look at the elephant, scratch that, the mammoth in the room: Antisemitism.

Antisemitism is the hatred of the Jewish people and Israel characterized by thoughts, words and deeds against them. Fighting antisemitism is a worthy cause, no matter what angle you view it from. Israel has always had and will continue to have friends and foes. there are three reasons why the current state of antisemitism is alarming and very concerning: Frequency, Intensity and, more recently, Normalization.

• Frequency: This is not news to anybody keeping a serious eye on Israel and the Jewish people. I have been monitoring antisemitism globally for almost 23 years. What used to yield a monthly or weekly news article now fills my email inbox on a daily basis. This only takes into consideration what is being reported. Many incidents are not categorized as antisemitic or are just willfully ignored. In many cases, depending on who was initiating the antisemitic acts, no reporting or biased reporting takes place for fear of reprisals. I do not see the frequency slowing but only increasing. From this point forward, there are more reasons why people of goodwill must join forces to fight the same enemy.

• Intensity: As if the frequency wasn’t enough of a problem, we also have to take intensity into consideration. What used to be mostly verbal abuse against Jewish people and those who support Israel has become violent over the last decade. Jews are being killed again. To be sure, not in the gruesome numbers seen during World War II, but even one life is too many. In 2015, a hostage situation resulted in the death of four Jewish shoppers on the east side of Paris, two days after the mass murder at the Charlie Hebdo magazine. In 2017, French Jewish doctor Sarah Halimi was thrown to her death out of her apartment window in Paris. In 2018, 11 congregants were killed during service at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg. In May 2022, an old Jewish man was thrown from the 17th-floor window of his Paris apartment. These are just a few examples validating the fact that antisemitism is moving from thoughts and words to actions. But we must understand that, almost always, actions are derived from words because words have meaning, and once spoken; they have consequences. I believe that what is leading to an increase in both frequency and intensity is the third criterion, known as normalization.

• Normalization: By normalization, I mean that antisemitism barely makes a blip in the news cycle in America. It’s being accepted as a piece of the fabric of America, as it is going mainstream, but it is the piece that should be removed. Outside of groups like neo-Nazis or radicalized hyper-religious sects, antisemitism was usually dormant or somewhat suppressed. In fact, it could be argued that one of the biggest challenges that those who fight antisemitism have had in recent years is apathy, not normalization. For various reasons, people simply didn’t care and didn’t react much to anything antisemitic on the news, the social networks or even in their own communities. In principle, people would always agree that antisemitism is wrong, but in practice, people didn’t care much about it, or they looked the other way. Was it fear of retribution? Possibly! Yet, that is not the end of the story. Now, antisemitism is going mainstream, and people are going from apathetic to supportive. This normalization is hitting us from various angles:
• The Hebrew Israelite Movement is promoting the notion that African Americans are the real Jews sidelining the real physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the twelve tribes. There is no biblical evidence for such a claim which is painting authentic Jewish people in a very precarious light. This is a movement that is supported by several famous and influential celebrities, making it more attractive and believable to the masses.
• Stand-Up Comedians are now using age-old antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling the world, the banks or Hollywood to generate laughter from their audience. When antisemitism goes mainstream, it goes from suppressed to accepted to promoted. We are currently in the “accepted” stage.
• Famous people boldly proclaim that the Holocaust never happened and even that they find that Hitler had redeeming qualities.
• Another arena where antisemitism should never be seen is in the world of sports. Unfortunately, the Qatar 2022 Soccer World Cup seemed to be fertile ground for various enemies of the Jewish state.
• Unexpectedly, possibly the most concerning recent poll, is the one regarding how Jewish people are perceived during a hiring process. Jewish applicants seem to have less of a chance of being hired in 2022, and nobody seems to care. 25% of hiring managers would think twice before hiring a person if they knew that the person is Jewish. Some of their findings are chilling:

26% of hiring managers say they are less likely to move forward with Jewish applicants; the top reason for negative bias is the belief that Jews have too much power and control
26% make assumptions about whether a candidate is Jewish based on their appearance
23% say they want fewer Jews in their industry
17% say leadership has told them not to hire Jews
33% say antisemitism is common in their workplace; 29% say antisemitism is acceptable in their company.

Let me repeat this, almost one-third of people polled responded that antisemitism is acceptable! Not that it is present, not that it is unfortunate, not that it is a problem, but that it is ACCEPTABLE! When a minority of people are against the Jews and another minority of people are fighting their bigotry, there is hope. Still, when it becomes acceptable to be antisemitic, normalization has taken root deeply enough to make it difficult to uproot it, and its growth will be exponential. This will require those who fight antisemitism to move to the front lines, and this is why Jews and Christians have no choice but to put their theological and cultural differences aside and fight the beast together.

To Christians, remember that the Jewish community might not accept and embrace you. Christians have a lot of baggage. You might not feel that the baggage is yours, but as a part of the Body of Messiah, it is part of your unfortunate, dark and bloody heritage. Now is not the time to cancel antisemitic Church history, but to acknowledge that it took place while not condoning it.
To Jews, give your Christian friends and neighbors a chance to tell you how they feel about Israel and the Jewish people. Do not paint Christians with the broad stroke of Jew-hatred without hearing them out. You might be surprised.
The normalization of antisemitism is the abnormal result of a fallen human race misled by Satan. Remember that antisemitism goes through phases. When normalization starts picking up momentum, the last stage will be an organized attempt at destroying the Jews. It’s not like we haven’t been there before!

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