The following is a letter from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Skokie (IL) Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue. It is certainly heart wrenching, but it also points up one very clear fact. The state of Israel HATES our Jesus. They are making laws to prohibit ALL missionary evangelism, and they have prosecuted Christian Jews for witness. I don't know the latest, but I know that Zionists HATE Yeshua Ben Joseph Bar Nazareth with the same degree of hate they hold for the Nazis. Don't bother to E-Mail me with another opinion. I am very bigoted in this observation.
This dear Rabbi has done what the state leaders of Israel have done for years. He is schmoozing us Christians to try to get our bucks, while his buddies spit on Jesus. So........ What do we do about the Jews in Russia? Read the letter, then I shall make observations at the end.
Letter from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein:
In the 1940s, the world either did not know or chose to ignore Hitler's "Final Solution" for the Jews until it was too late.........
We cannot let history repeat itself in the 1990s.
Dear Christian Friend of Israel:
By the time the world awoke to the truth of the Holocaust, more than 6 million innocent people had been lost--fathers, mothers, little children, babies--murdered and incinerated in monster ovens that ran continuously, around the clock.
Why? For being Jews!
The world hung its head in shame and swore collectively never to let such an atrocity happen again.
Never. Never again!
Yet, a 2nd Holocaust is bearing down on the Jews today, and again the world either does not know or chooses to ignore it.
Ironically, this 2nd Holocaust has its roots in one of the greatest victories for freedom the world has ever seen--
--the collapse of the Soviet Union, of Communism itself; when the hand of God moved over this Biblical "Land of the North," and people everywhere rejoiced as blood-stained walls of separation were leveled, torn to the ground.
Soon, religious freedoms accompanied the new political freedoms. Churches were re-opened, Bibles published, Western believers poured in to help, and aid flowed in countless ways.
Moreover, a miracle of tremendous proportions took place among Russian jews:
For the first time in modern history. the Russian government opened its Iron Curtain barriers to allow Jewish emigration to Israel.
Families who dreamed in desperation for years of escaping to the Holy Land now had an open door for the first time this century!
Ever since, Jews from America and from around the world have rushed to help their Russian brothers and sisters through Operation Exodus, an effort that has already airlifted more than 500,000 Jewish emigrants into Israel.
Yet even now, as we rejoice over these who have found freedom in their Jewish homeland, over 100,000 others are waiting in line in Russia right now with their visas in hand.
Everything they need to do to legally escape to the Holy Land is done, with one exception... they have no airline ticket.
Behind that group is another group, ten times larger-- ONE MILLION PEOPLE. But our greatest fear is growing that this door to freedom will soon slam shut once again!
A dark shadow is beginning to fall across Russia. A vicious new strain of nationalism is spreading across the land.
The Russian ultra-nationalist, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, seems to grow more and more powerful and influential every day.
Many see him as a "buffoon." But he is a clever politician in a constant state of rage. His speeches are filled with hate, especially anti-Semitism. He is extremely dangerous.
The Russian economy is in a shambles. Tens of thousands of Russian workers have lost their jobs and Zhirinovsky and others are convincing them the jews are to blame for all of Russia's problems.
Anatoly Shabad, a Jew and leader in the pro-Yeltsin faction of parliament, reported in the Jerusalem Post, "I have never seen such direct incitement before. One leaflet showed a Russian child pleading, 'Daddy, kill a jew for my future.'"
The danger to the Jews in Russia and the now-independent Moslem states is real. It grows more and more serious daily.
Because of Zhirinovsky and others like him, experts predict our present "good relations" with Russia will last no longer than the next two and a half to three years.
That's how long we have to rescue the remaining Russian jews who have already lined up to leave for Israel. There are many who say even that timetable is much Loo optimistic.if Zhirinovsky or another Hitler "look-alike" gains power, the airlift will immediately end.
A new Iron Curtain will slam down on a million or more human beings who could have been saved......
...for the lack of an airlift.
That's right. Just $300 can snatch a marked person, a Russian Jew, from the jaws of the Russian bear. Such a small price to pay for a human life.
Jews around the world are giving sacrificially to rescue our brothers and sisters. But, frankly, they have reached the point where they can no longer do it alone.
And so, I am appealing· to you, my Christian brothers and sisters, to help in this most noble cause.
We are overwhelmed by sheer numbers. At the present emigration rate of 6000 a month, even using the optimistic 36-month projection of lime available to bring jews out, barely 200,000 Jews will be rescued.
Imagine 900,000 human beings, families with young children and babes in arms, lined up, watching the last plane leave without them!
These are decent, God-fearing families, whose sole "crime" is once again that they are Jews. They are a people marked for destruction.
These people will not make it without the heir, of Christians in America. You and your circle of friends are their greatest hope.
The problem is that the Jews can't buy their own tickets. They are emigrants, refugees, not tourists. They can leave Russia with only the clothes on their backs and a few bags in their hands.
They can convert only a few rubles into foreign currency-- and the ruble itself is almost worthless today. Anything more must be left behind. They are paupers.
Once they reach Israel, Operation Exodus and the government cares for them for at least the first six months. They help them find housing, learn the language and prepare them to enter the culture of the Holy Land.
But we must get them there first!
Jeremiah foretold 2500 years ago what we are witnessing today:
"Therefore behold, days are coming; declares the Lord, when it will no longer be said,'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of israel out of the land of Egypt;' but rather 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of lsrael from the Land of the North and from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore then to their own land which I gave to their fathers. Jeremiah 16:14-15
A wise man once said, "Do not petition God to go where you are going; rather find where God is going and travel with Him." Today, we know where God, the Lord, is going. He is restoring the Jews to the Holy Land from the "Land of the North." And, He has asked us to accompany Him in this "2nd Exodus."
Will you join us! On Wings of Eagles is an American project to provide airlift tickets and needed support for those standing in line. The enclosed response document was patterned after the airline ticket that will bring out these God-fearing families to religious freedom and safety.
Wings of Eagles enjoys the support of a wide range of Christian leaders including Jack Hayford, Lloyd Olgivie, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Debby Boone, Rich Buhler, and many others.
Can you give the $300 to bring one person to safety~ Perhaps you can sponsor an entire family of three, four or even more. Or maybe, you can provide for part of the passage!
Whatever your situation provides, I believe God will lead you in His direction.
FIRST, The Rabbi is probably telling the truth all the way through. I have no doubt about it. Also, I think that $300 is a bargain to rescue a Jew, or anyone for that matter, from the sorrows of Russia. I trust this Rabbi as much as I trust any unsaved person.
SECOND, The Rabbi understands End-Times doctrine as well as un unsaved Jew ever can. He senses the greatness of the moment, and he uses Jeremiah very much in context as far as I can tell.
THIRD, I think the Rabbi might even be pretty tolerant of Christians. I would hesitate applying to him the mindless hate of the Zionists in Israel. In other words, he means well, and I have no personal problem with him.
FOURTH, I think it would not be bad stewardship to help a Jew get from Russia to Israel. If you are about to blow a bundle on a play thing like a sun room or an RV, you are wicked if you don't put it off for a while and help these Jews. You are another Chamberlain.
FIFTH, However; I also know that a Jew in Russia has a lot better chance of getting the Gospel and being saved than he does in Israel. The Russian Baptists also sense the profoundness of the moment, and they are hard at work giving Russian Jews the Gospel as well as showing them physical mercy. If I had to choose between sending a Jew to Israel and helping Russian Baptists (Gorgi Vin's friends) give the Gospel to Jews, I would have to go with the Russian Baptists. Sending a Jew to Israel, at least for now, could be a way to say to him. "Go to hell." Antichrist can just get at him easier after the Rapture of the Church.
The Rabbi refused to mention the Lord Jesus Christ. He did schmooze us with a motley crew of ecumenical slobs of course. These are the ones he joins to fight abortion etc at the Christian Coalition. Good works? Yes indeed, but the only the generic kind which damn men's souls in the end.
He also tried to imply that if these Jews don't get to Israel, it will be the fault of American Christians. This is an old saw that the Zionists have used to their advantage for many years. It made Jerry Falwell panic and jump right up to the mic and yell "Ich Bin ein Zionist." Zionists love to assign fault to Christians for Jewish suffering. I reject this out of hand. It stinks, and I rebuke the Rabbi for resorting to this propaganda trick. He needs to take the truthful way, and give the facts and shut up. If he wants to make an altar call to the Church, he must come to faith in Christ, the One at the eternal altar in the Glory.
Jews (Biblical Israel) today suffer because they rejected the holiness of Jehovah 2500 years ago, as the minor prophets make very clear. They also suffer for rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah circa 1965 years ago. I am sorry, but THEY bear the full burden of responsibility for their suffering. If I can alter that in some way, I should, but NOT in guilt. I didn't reject the Messiah. Paul wished he could win Jews, even go to hell in their place, but he did not show us that we need to bear their guilt. Jesus did that for them. If they will not have His forgiveness, then they must go to hell for their OWN guilt. It is urgent in the extreme that Fundamental pastors squelch this nonsense at once.
If you feel, after you have supported your local church and Russian Gospel Mission, that you can sponsor a Jew from Russia to Israel, DO SO PLEASE. Compassion is in short supply in the Clintonian era of New Age death wish. Here is the address:
Contact the Rabbi at his synagogue Home Page: http://www.northshoremalls.com/skokvly.htm
OR
By snail mail at:
Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue
8825 East Prairie Road,
Skokie, IL 60076-2343
Phone: 847/674-3473 - Fax: 847-674-3488
If you would like to help the Russian Gospel Mission give the Gospel to Russian Jews, send your gift to:
Russian Gospel Ministries
3128 Lexington Park Drive
Elkhart, IN 46514
Phone: (219) 522-3486
spchk
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