Confusion
by Dan Benzvi

Isaiah 49:22 reads: "Adonai Elohim answers: 'I am beckoning to the nations, raising my banner for the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.'" Many within evangelical Christianity have taken this verse to heart, and are helping to bring this prophecy to its fulfillment. Organizations like Wings Of Eagles and Holy Land Fellowship of Christians and Jews are joining hands and pooling their resources. They want to bring as many Jews as possible out of the Diaspora and back to their homeland Israel. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is the organizer and spokesman for the HLFCJ. Although not a believer in Yeshua, he nonetheless helped forge a tremendous fellowship and understanding with Christian groups who sincerely want to help the Israeli nation; Christians who prove so by loosening their purse strings and other resources to help this worthy cause.

Contrast that with the group Jews for Jesus led by David Brickner. In an article titled "Be Careful Where You Give" published in the (Zola) Levitt Letter, Mr. Brickner voices his objection to Christians who give their money to this noble cause. His reason: Rabbi Eckstein is not a believer in Jesus. How appalling! In this article Mr. Brickner states: "many Christians believe that when they give to the Holy Land Fellowship of Christians and Jews (a.k.a. Rabbi Eckstein) they are giving to a Christian organization run by a 'messianic rabbi'. When I explain that Yechiel Eckstein is not a believer in Jesus, and that in fact he opposes the gospel going to the Jewish people, most Christians I meet are shocked, dismayed and hurt. They feel betrayed and deceived".

Mr. Brickner tries to explain why Christians should not support what he calls "mercy ministries" to the Jews and why Rabbi Eckstein should not be allowed to choose those ministries (this group never ceases to amaze us, do they?). When Mr. Brickner writes: "I believe that mercy ministries are best and most meaningfully done in the name of Jesus or at least in the name of his disciples", I say that he is publicly demonstrating the narrow-mindedness of the group he is heading. He does this by forgetting that Yeshua was an Israelite Jew and that He Himself said: "I came after the lost sheep of Israel." So what is good for Yeshua should be good enough for Mr. Brickner. Don't you think so?

Furthermore Mr. Brickner is not the only Jewish believer who meets with Christians. I've met with many Christians who realize that the majority of Israelis are not believers. And yet these Christians continue to give. They tell me they've read Ezekiel 36: 24-28, and have noted Hashem's timetable: First He will gather the children of Israel into their own land, and then He will give them "a new heart" and "a new spirit".

So why don't we let the facts speak for themselves? How many planes full of Jewish people escaping persecution in the former Soviet Union have landed in Israel thanks to the generosity and efforts of enlightened Christians who understand Hashem's timetable? On the other hand, how many Jews have Mr. Brickner and his group J4J brought or helped bring to Israel? The only relationship that J4J is interested in having with Israel is what I call the "turnstile connection", i.e. how many Israelis they can convert to Christianity. All they care about are the numbers. They use intimidating tactics to confront Jewish people and as a result cause a lot more damage then good. Evidence? Let's face it, if we are to believe their boasting on how many Jews they bring to the Lord, then Yeshua should have been here a long time ago! Because by now, through J4J efforts, all Israel should have been saved. But the reality is different isn't it?

As a Jewish believer, born and raised in Israel, it saddens me to see someone running a Jewish organization (at least by name if not by belief) who does not have the slightest idea of what being an Israeli is all about. Mr. Brickner is foreign to the land and was educated on the knees of an assimilated Jew - a Baptist minister without any Rabbinic Jewish credentials. I am now referring to the founder of J4J Moshe (Martin) Rosen.

Here at Kehilat Ben David we are laying out our resources to help Israel through helping organizations like Magen David Adom and the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). According to Mr. Brickner we should cease immediately because these poor soldiers do not believe in Jesus. What chutzpah! J4J may be Jewish by name, but they are certainly not in heart. As a Jewish believer and as an Israeli I say to Mr. Brickner: "Lay off!" We do not need his advice and help. J4J relies on the funds they receive from Christian churches and organizations. So where do you think their loyalty lies, with Israel or with those same Christian churches?

No, if someone is telling people not to help Israel, we should know that it is not coming from God.