WINTER IS HERE - AT LAST
Today, 2 Jan 2018, we are enjoying our first real taste of winter here in Israel. Outside it is 8 degrees Celsius and foggy with light rain. It is so lovely to see the rain. We need it so badly. So far we have had only 8% of our annual rainfall, whereas we would normally have had at least 30% by now. This is especially hard on the farmers who rely on the early rains to get their winter crops started and the latter rains (in Feb-March) to finish them off. It has been so warm until now that the almond trees are blooming already, a good month before they should.
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| Fog in Mevaseret today |
Yesterday the rest of the world celebrated the incoming of the New Year. In Israel very few people celebrate the Gregorian New Year. I never really understood why Israelis, and Jews in general, were so opposed to celebrating New Year, which here in Israel is called Sylvester, a name I had never heard of until I came to Israel. For me, New Year is a totally secular celebration with no links to any religion, so I did not understand why so many Jews object to it. Yesterday, however, I was sent an article (1) by a friend which explains why Israel does not celebrate the New Year.
Apparently, New Year is called Sylvester in German-speaking countries and Poland after Saint Sylvester who was a Catholic Pope from 314 - 355 C.E (AD). Once the Catholic Church finalized the Gregorian calendar, and Christmas Day was fixed as the 25th December, then they calculated that New Year's Eve was the day on which the Christ child would have been circumcised according to Jewish Law. Pope Sylvester died on the 31st of December, 355 C.E. and thus New Year's Eve was nominated Saint Sylvester Day in the Catholic Church. From that time on, and all through the Middle Ages, Sylvester Day was an occasion for revelry which inevitably led to attacks on Jews, the burning of books and Synagogues, public torture and humiliation, and just plain murder (1).
It was Pope Sylvester who convinced Emperor Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem and who at the Council of Nicea introduced vicious anti-semitic legislation. Later, on New Year's Day 1577, Pope Gregory XII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen to compulsory Catholic conversion sermons given in synagogues after the Friday night services. On the same day one year later, Gregory signed a tax law forcing Jews to pay for a 'House of Conversion' to convert Jews to Christianity. Then on New Year's Day in 1581, Gregory ordered his troops to confiscate all the sacred Jewish literature, and during this campaign, thousands of Jews were murdered (1).
It is therefore no wonder that Jews should be opposed to celebrating the New Year or Sylvester. In the light of such a bloody and shameful history, we who profess to be Christians should pause and reflect on these appalling acts carried out, in the name of our Lord Yeshua, but certainly not sanctioned by Him. The church needs to repent and apologize to the Jewish people for these terrible things, but more than that, we need to expunge every vestige of anti-semitism from our churches and our own thinking.
The Bible speaks of the veil which prevents Jews from understanding the Holy Scriptures. I believe that a very big part of that veil is the historical, and current, antiSemitism in the worldwide Church.
But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
2 Corinthians 3 : 14-15
Thankfully though, that is not the end of the story for the writer goes on to say, in the following verse(v 16),
Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
When a child of Israel turns to the person of Yeshua, the veil is ripped away and they will see clearly. This is really not very different for people of other nations. We all have our own veils. No one can really understand the Holy Scriptures until they are born again of the Spirit in Yeshua the Messiah. The nature and cause of that veil may vary but it the same for all of us in that it is only when we draw near to Yeshua that that veil is torn away, and we can begin to see clearly.
Many Messianic believers here in Israel are remarking that we are seeing a huge change in the way that many Israelis are relating to Yeshua. They are not interested in the church nor in Christianity as such, but more and more are being drawn to the person of Yeshua. We are seeing much greater openness. For many years we had to be content with preparing the ground and sowing seeds, but I rather feel that many of those seeds are now beginning to sprout.
One sign of the growing openness in Israeli society is the debut of the feature film, "A New Spirit" now showing in major movie theatres all around Israel. This film is based on the life of Yaakov Damkane, who is a well-known Messianic evangelist and pastor in Yaffo-Tel Aviv. Not so long ago, this could never have happened. Now it is receiving good audiences and publicity, and even a 13-minute review on Israel's main news channel, Channel 12 (2) . For more on this film see the article:
http://kehilanews.com/2018/01/02/now-showing-in-israel-a-new-spirit-a-movie-about-jacob-damkani/
One sign of the growing openness in Israeli society is the debut of the feature film, "A New Spirit" now showing in major movie theatres all around Israel. This film is based on the life of Yaakov Damkane, who is a well-known Messianic evangelist and pastor in Yaffo-Tel Aviv. Not so long ago, this could never have happened. Now it is receiving good audiences and publicity, and even a 13-minute review on Israel's main news channel, Channel 12 (2) . For more on this film see the article:
http://kehilanews.com/2018/01/02/now-showing-in-israel-a-new-spirit-a-movie-about-jacob-damkani/
The Enemy, Satan, is not too pleased about all this of course. He is roaring around like a lion, looking for every weakness, in order to bring us down. Many believers here, especially those in leadership, are experiencing extreme levels of spiritual attack in the form of marital problems, divorce, serious life-threatening illnesses, the death of loved ones, family problems etc, etc. I have never seen such a vicious all-out attack as I am seeing in these days. Please pray for our protection from this spiritual warfare. We here, especially in Jerusalem, are in the center of the vortex. We need to make sure our lives are pure and that we keep 'short account' of sin in our lives. Any chink in the armor makes us vulnerable.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5: 8
I am glad to say that we believers in Israel are becoming more aware of the need to stand together and support one another. For example, I have been encouraged recently to hear about several initiatives around the country to provide help and support for the elderly amongst us. Until now there were very few elderly folk in our congregations, but now the generation that came here in the '70s and '80s is growing old. These were the people who were instrumental in starting up the Messianic congregations in Israel, and we owe them a lot. The congregations are beginning to wake up to the need to provide for this generation, many of whom have no family here, nor were able to provide for their old age. Few own their own homes, have savings or sufficient pensions to live on. The National Insurance pension is tiny and nowhere near enough to even pay the rent on an apartment. There is an urgent need to provide suitable housing, finance and practical care for these people.
Another change is the establishment of a growing number of local Messianic organizations giving aid to the poor and needy in the Land, and the acceptance of this by government and other professional agencies. You can read more about these in the following articles:
http://kehilanews.com/2017/12/22/five-believing-organizations-that-minister-to-the-poor-in-israel/
http://kehilanews.com/2018/01/02/pray-for-israel-hatikva-project/
As we enter into 2018 many of us are wondering what this new year will bring. Israel is standing strong, though in a precarious position. Since Trump's announcement that the USA would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital there have been ongoing riots throughout the West Bank and Gaza. These have not had a big effect on us in Israel as most have been confined in those areas. In fact, if I didn't watch the news on TV I would not even be aware they were happening. As usual, it is the Palestinians themselves who are suffering the most for their actions.
Perhaps of more concern is the escalating barrage of rocket and mortar attacks across the border from Gaza. Since Trump's announcement more than 40 rockets have landed in Israel, prompting retaliatory attacks by Israeli tanks and aircraft, wounding many in the Gaza Strip. No Israelis have been injured or killed in these attacks but it is nerve-wracking for the residents of the border area. Ironically several of the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip have failed to reach Israel and instead fallen in Gaza damaging homes and schools. Yesterday three rockets were fired at a ceremony marking the would-be 24th birthday of IDF soldier, Oron Shaul, killed in the Operation Protective Edge, and whose body is still held in Gaza by Hamas. As the people ran for shelters or lay on the ground the Iron Dome system intercepted two of the rockets but the third hit a structure nearby. No one was hurt but it was a very frightening experience (4). Today a further two rockets were fired into Israel (5).
Another change is the establishment of a growing number of local Messianic organizations giving aid to the poor and needy in the Land, and the acceptance of this by government and other professional agencies. You can read more about these in the following articles:
http://kehilanews.com/2017/12/22/five-believing-organizations-that-minister-to-the-poor-in-israel/
http://kehilanews.com/2018/01/02/pray-for-israel-hatikva-project/
As we enter into 2018 many of us are wondering what this new year will bring. Israel is standing strong, though in a precarious position. Since Trump's announcement that the USA would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital there have been ongoing riots throughout the West Bank and Gaza. These have not had a big effect on us in Israel as most have been confined in those areas. In fact, if I didn't watch the news on TV I would not even be aware they were happening. As usual, it is the Palestinians themselves who are suffering the most for their actions.
Perhaps of more concern is the escalating barrage of rocket and mortar attacks across the border from Gaza. Since Trump's announcement more than 40 rockets have landed in Israel, prompting retaliatory attacks by Israeli tanks and aircraft, wounding many in the Gaza Strip. No Israelis have been injured or killed in these attacks but it is nerve-wracking for the residents of the border area. Ironically several of the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip have failed to reach Israel and instead fallen in Gaza damaging homes and schools. Yesterday three rockets were fired at a ceremony marking the would-be 24th birthday of IDF soldier, Oron Shaul, killed in the Operation Protective Edge, and whose body is still held in Gaza by Hamas. As the people ran for shelters or lay on the ground the Iron Dome system intercepted two of the rockets but the third hit a structure nearby. No one was hurt but it was a very frightening experience (4). Today a further two rockets were fired into Israel (5).
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| Families take cover during rocket fire on Friday (Photo: Roee Idan) https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5065037,00.html |
However in spite of all the tension life in Israel is as always full of many complexities. Two weeks ago, on the 18th December, when I began writing this blog update, I wrote this:
Yesterday, at about the time of the end of the Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount, I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop waiting for my coffee to be served. A Jewish family walked in the door and the smallest child, a girl of about 3, tripped and fell. She was in tears. One of the staff came to her with a smile and gave her and her sister some chocolate. The tears were replaced with a smile. A simple act of human kindness? Yes it was, but it was remarkable because the staff member who comforted the little girl was an Arab. Even more so because, right at that moment, other Arab residents of Jerusalem were rioting and calling for death to the Jews, just down the street from where I sat. The riots got full press coverage but there was no mention of the hundreds of such positive interactions between Jews and Arabs that occur every day here in Jerusalem.
Following US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, many Arab leaders have called for a Third Intifada, or general uprising, against the Jewish State. So far anyway it hasn't happened. There has been rioting, some terror attacks and several casualties, including deaths, but what we are seeing is very far from an Intifada. According to Ynetnews, the IDF estimated that yesterday some 3,500 Palestinians were rioting in 9 different locations across the Gaza Strip and another 2,500 were rioting in various locations in the West Bank, burning tires and throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at IDF and Border Police personnel (6). These rioters represent but a tiny percentage, about 0.1%, of the total population of the West Bank - hardly a general uprising! I suspect that most of the people of the West Bank are tired of all the violence and just want to get on with their lives. They know that Jerusalem has in fact been the capital of Israel for a long time and nothing has really changed with Trump's announcement. They also know, deep down that Israel is here to stay and as long as Israel is here Jerusalem will be its capital, even if they will not admit it publicly.
I will end this update with this photo - which I think sums up the absurdities we take as normal here in Jerusalem. This is why I love this place!
Yesterday, at about the time of the end of the Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount, I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop waiting for my coffee to be served. A Jewish family walked in the door and the smallest child, a girl of about 3, tripped and fell. She was in tears. One of the staff came to her with a smile and gave her and her sister some chocolate. The tears were replaced with a smile. A simple act of human kindness? Yes it was, but it was remarkable because the staff member who comforted the little girl was an Arab. Even more so because, right at that moment, other Arab residents of Jerusalem were rioting and calling for death to the Jews, just down the street from where I sat. The riots got full press coverage but there was no mention of the hundreds of such positive interactions between Jews and Arabs that occur every day here in Jerusalem.
Following US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, many Arab leaders have called for a Third Intifada, or general uprising, against the Jewish State. So far anyway it hasn't happened. There has been rioting, some terror attacks and several casualties, including deaths, but what we are seeing is very far from an Intifada. According to Ynetnews, the IDF estimated that yesterday some 3,500 Palestinians were rioting in 9 different locations across the Gaza Strip and another 2,500 were rioting in various locations in the West Bank, burning tires and throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at IDF and Border Police personnel (6). These rioters represent but a tiny percentage, about 0.1%, of the total population of the West Bank - hardly a general uprising! I suspect that most of the people of the West Bank are tired of all the violence and just want to get on with their lives. They know that Jerusalem has in fact been the capital of Israel for a long time and nothing has really changed with Trump's announcement. They also know, deep down that Israel is here to stay and as long as Israel is here Jerusalem will be its capital, even if they will not admit it publicly.
I will end this update with this photo - which I think sums up the absurdities we take as normal here in Jerusalem. This is why I love this place!
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| In case you are wondering - yes, Santa comes to Jerusalem too! https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5060414,00.html |
Prayer Points
- Pray that the veil will be lifted from the minds of many and that the film "A New Spirit" will cause many to draw near to Yeshua.
- Pray for the protection of the believers here in the Land, especially for the leadership. Pray that we will resist the temptations of the Enemy and not allow him access into our lives to destroy.
- Pray for abundant winter rains. We are still in a very serious drought situation.
- Pray for the needy in Israel. One in three Israeli children live below the poverty line. Israel's elderly have the highest poverty rates in the developed world (7). Pray for those Messianic organizations that are reaching out to try and ease these needs.
- Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all Israel. Pray that the Palestinians will not rise up in a third Intifada and will begin to work for a better future, rather than concentrating on anger and revenge. Above all, pray that Islam will be exposed as the Satanic Lie it is.
- Pray for our soldiers, police and other security and emergency personnel who daily risk their lives and work day and night, often in the cold and wet conditions at this time of year, so that we might go about our lives in safety. Pray especially for the young believers in the army, not only that they may be physically safe but also that they will be safe spiritually, as they come under the influence of their peers.
1. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/21485
2. Channel 12 news clip (in Hebrew only) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8FyyHXw0pg
3. http://kehilanews.com/2018/01/02/now-showing-in-israel-a-new-spirit-a-movie-about-jacob-damkani/
4. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5065037,00.html
5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5065906,00.html
6. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5057380,00.html
7. http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Israels-elderly-poverty-rates-highest-in-the-developed-world-339026
