The month of December is upon us. Even in Israel there is a beginning of a budding Christmas spirit, but not in Jerusalem. Jerusalem remains Christmasless and the Rabbis issue a warning to hotels and restaurants that if they have any thing to do with Christmas or with New Year celebrations (called Sylvester in European Countries) their Kosher licenses will be taken away.
Actually in Israel the big holiday in the month of December is Hanukah. Hanukah is the feast of lights (the feast of dedication) that celebrates the victory of the Sons of Hashmonai, the Maccabbies, over the Greek Seleucids in the second century B.C. The symbolism of Hanukah is that light wins over darkness, the few win over the many, the weak win over the strong, and God fearing people win over the pagans. It is a very good feast for disciples of Yeshua because in this world we are the few that will have victory over the many, and we are the weak in the eyes of the world that will confound the strong, and we are the light that has victory over the darkness by following the divine light Yeshua our Messiah in whom there is no darkness.
The political situation in Israel is not improving. It seems like Parliament members are jumping from one political party to the next, and every soul is for sale if the political price that is being offered by the next buyer is high enough. There is total confusion and no principles in any one of our politicians and the people can see this with the naked eye just in order to be discouraged by the whole system.
Reality comes often to Israel and slaps you in the face with a force of a hurricane and venom of 1000 rattle snakes. Just as the Israeli Prime Minister is talking about the resumption of talks with Machmud Abas the Palestinian Prime Minister – a suicide bomber blows himself up in front of a shopping center in the city of Natanyah. Ariel Sharon and many in his cabinet had hoped that with the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip there will be a period of peace and calm between Israel and the Palestinians. The reality is that nothing is peaceful or calm. Everything is up in the smoke that this young Palestinian’s walking bomb left when his finger pushed the button that killed five people, civilians, old women, grandmothers, and men who are retired and going to the shopping center to relax a little. Five people are dead and dozens of people are still in the hospitals with wounds that will never heal completely. My big question is what can we do to heal the peace process? What does God really want from the population of this region of the world? Does God really want to see peace come to this valley of confrontation and hate that is called the “land of Israel?” A few years ago I would have jumped quickly and answered this question positively. Now I am not even sure that this is what God wants from this region of the world. It is easy to see that never in history did this land enjoy a long period of calm, peace, and prosperity. There were always national and ethnic conflicts here between the Jordan River in the East and the Mediterranean Sea on the West. There were always many different ethnic groups that all fought for supremacy over this small impoverished land. So, let us pray that with God’s grace we, the disciples of Yeshua, can see fruit for our labor that will be of eternal value and favor for God’s Kingdom. Pray with me that God can use the events happening in this land for the good of the nations that live here and for the world just as He used the advent of His Son in one of the most turbulent times of our history to bring salvation to you and all of mankind.
We have started to calculate our actions toward the end of the civil year 2005. Here are some figures about the Soup-Kitchen ministry of Netivyah.
The Newspaper has reported that there were over 100 new Soup-Kitchens that have opened in the last year in Israel. Netivyah has prepared over 2300 meals per month to feed the poor of Jerusalem. We have increased by 35% in the number of people that are frequenting the Soup-Kitchen since last year. We use close to one ton of meat, fish, and poultry, each month to feed the hungry of this city. In the last eleven months we have received 51,000 dollars in specified contributions for the Soup-Kitchen. In the last eleven months we have used for the Soup-Kitchen 72,500 dollars in expenses.
Salaries to Soup-Kitchen workers were a total of 28,500 dollars.
Food, Utilities and equipment expenses were 44,000 dollars.
We are in a deficit of 21,500 dollars that were covered from Netivyah’s general fund to keep the Soup-Kitchen going.
Tomorrow we have a meeting with three new families that need food to survive. One of these families has 15 children, that is 15 mouths to feed.
Hannah, our office manager, asked me today – “What shall we do with close to 30 new people who need the services of the Soup-Kitchen?” Can we afford to take so many new people when we are not covering the expenses of the Soup-Kitchen. I told her Hannah – Adonai Yare, the Lord will see to it. We have come this far by faith and God has never disappointed us as long as we are doing His will. I believe that the Lord will come through and use our good brothers and sisters all around the world to bless the citizens of Jerusalem and keep giving some food on the tables of those who are the poorest and the weakest of the social fiber in this City of the Great King. If we take these new applicants for the Soup-Kitchen tomorrow we shall have over 100 people per day eating from God’s Grace! If you have tasted God’s Grace in your life – can you see you being a waiter, a servant, on God’s table through your gift and your participation with Netivyah in feeding the poor of Jerusalem?
I just got news that the Orthodox Jewish organization Yad LeAchim is harassing our young people. They have approached a minor from our congregation and have questioned him and offered to talk to him about the “error of his ways.” This kind of harassment of minor children is a real violation of human rights and ethics. For adults to come to a public place and pick out a child from our congregation and question him behave in a threatening manner toward him is just out of the question. I am asking you to pray for the safety of the youth of our congregation and for the safety of our congregation. I don’t know if you, who pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the salvation of the Jewish people realize that we are at the very front of the line. We deal with the enemies of truth and the surrogate God of our people just in the very same way that Jeremiah and Isaiah and Amos, and Hosea, dealt with the same people and the same spirit. WE need your prayers and your help and your support in every possible way.
When some people talk of “spiritual warfare,” they have but a little clue of what it is like to work, and preach, and worship, and serve God and the community under the constant dread of harassment and harm. When Paul says that we are fighting not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and forces controlling both our political and religious arena, he intends to encourage us. Please lift us up and lift our families up and lift up the message that we broadcast for all of Israel. The situation in California has become much more complicated and we now beg you all to daily pray for Danah and Noaam. As the time approaches for the divorce and custody case to be decided the anger and violence is increasing and all of us need divine strength to stay focused on God and on what is right and true. Please, please, intercede for my family and for Danah and Noaam and send angels from heaven to protect and guide and provide for the release and justification of the innocent. We have the most wonderful group of old ladies in our congregation and several great old men, and all of them are showing their age, but some are showing it much more. I ask you to pray for Ahuva, our dear sister and one of the founding members of our congregation in Jerusalem. She is well past eighty years old and is still living alone, but she needs strengthening and healing. Ahuva’s hands shake and her walking has slowed down. Liora is another one of our finest sisters – also way up there in the years. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. WE know that our God is able to renew our lives and bodies in a flip of His finger – and that is way we pray and ask our God for healing. We lift up Steve in San Diego and wish him a fast and quick recovery from surgery for cancer. We lift up Sara and Zvi and thank God for healing Sara and giving her a new life. We pray for Zvi to continue in good health and continue to do good works for the needy. We have Ruby in Oklahoma City – we believe for Ruby and her healing and return to a full and happy life without pain. In Yeshua’s name we bless Ruby with healing from above. It is true that we keep praying for people and at times we see no results, but the nature of prayer is such that we keep knocking on God’s door like that impertinent widow that knocked on the door of the judge at midnight. Finally the judge just got enough of this cheeky woman and gave her what she wanted. Of course no parable is fully compatible with reality, but we must keep interceding for our brothers and sisters. When we pray and call upon God for people whom we don’t even know we actually perform an act of unification of the Body of the Messiah. Even two words for a brother on the other side of the Ocean are a vote of confidence in God’s Kingdom and the Unity of His Body in the Messiah. Well, this letter has become longer than most. I wish all of you a great week-end and a wonderful time of joy. Don’t forget to pray for our brothers and sisters in Finland, Japan, Korea, Brazil, United States, and Germany. We appreciate your support for Kol HaYeshua Radio, for the Soup-Kitchen, for the Netivyah General fund that helps pay salaries and electricity and printing. The next “Teaching from Zion” magazine is going to come out very soon and it is going to be about “Zionism.” This topic is of great importance for both Jews and Christians who fancy themselves as “Zionists” often without a proper analysis of what this means in light of God’s Word. If you have not received the “Teaching from Zion” magazine before please drop us a line with your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and any other information and we will put you on the mailing list. Love to all of you and enjoy the time while it is still called “Today” because the night is coming! Joseph Shulam