Jews For Jesus Real Time

No fancy graphics—just our monthly e-publication chock full of up-to-date news and links you won't find in our regular print newsletter.

Our archives are here: http://www.jfjonline.org/pub/realtime.htm

April 2004

Remember, **JFJRT is a complement to our regular newsletter.** We do
all kinds of things there that we can't do here and vice versa. We
realize this may be longer than some of the e-publications out there,
but we hope you will SIMPLY SCROLL TO THOSE ITEMS THAT ARE OF
INTEREST TO YOU.

IN THIS EDITION:

1. Message from David Brickner: Next Year in Jerusalem
2. Passion update by Susan Perlman
3. Facts of Jewish life by Rich Robinson
4. Reminder: check for Christ in the Passover near you
5. Sneak peek of next month's newsletter
6. How to be more (or less) involved with Jews for Jesus


*************************************************************

1. MESSAGE FROM DAVID BRICKNER: NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM

*************************************************************

I look forward to celebrating Passover in the next few weeks. The
story of God's redemption of my Jewish people from bondage in Egypt
thousands of years ago is wonderful in itself and it takes on even
greater meaning through our Messiah's passion. As Y'shua celebrated
His "Last Supper," a Passover meal, He applied it to his own life,
death and resurrection. But what some don't realize is that Passover
is not only a time to remember. It is full of hopeful expectation
for the coming of our King Messiah!

* A Future Passover *

Jesus set the tone for this expectation with His opening Passover
remarks. He expressed eagerness to celebrate the meal with His
disciples, "for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16). Similarly, after He
had taken the cup at the beginning of the ceremony (most likely the
cup of sanctification) He told them, "Take this and divide it among
yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the
vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:17b-18).

If Y'shua's disciples had listened carefully, they would have found
great hope to cling to in the coming dark hours. He promised that
they would enjoy another Passover with Him in the future, a Passover
when the Kingdom of God comes, a Passover "fulfilled" in that
Kingdom. This upper room observance need not be called the Last
Supper. Jesus promised it would not be the last one, not at all!

Some might argue that Jesus' promise of a future Passover has been
fulfilled, or is being fulfilled each time believers celebrate holy
communion. I agree that Jesus' death, burial and resurrection do
fulfill the promise of redemption foreshadowed in the Passover. Yet
I can't believe that was His entire promise to His followers. Jesus
mentioned a future in which *He* would be partaking of Passover.
This points to more than a commemorative ceremony in which we
partake. Jesus Himself will sit down and enjoy the Passover
celebration with His friends.

Our Messiah's passion opened the door for all who believe to become
Kingdom citizens. But I believe in the promise of a Passover in a
Kingdom that is both now and not yet. Not much has been written
about the future Passover meal Jesus spoke about. I imagine it will
be a most wonderful celebration because the Lamb who was slain will
be there to lead the seder.

* A Future Place *

Each year Passover concludes with a joyous cry of hope, and a rousing
chorus of: "L'Shana haba b'rushalayim," which means, "Next year in
Jerusalem!" This song captures generations of hope that my people
will be restored in peace to Jerusalem, the city of peace. But that
hope has yet to be realized. Jerusalem may be governed by Jewish
people today, but it is not a city of peace, not yet.

My parents live in that strategic city and I just returned from a
visit there. The day I flew to Israel, I arrived to find that a
suicide bomber had blown himself up on a bus in Jerusalem. Scores of
people died and many more were wounded. Each year my people recite
and sing the words, "next year in Jerusalem," but the majority of us
are still not flocking to live there. But one day Jerusalem will be
the most desirable place on earth.

The hope with which we always end the seder meal is really the hope
for heaven. There is a longing in the human heart that can only be
met by the presence of God.

Jerusalem will one day be a most desirable place because it will be
characterized by the one who dwells there, the Prince of Peace.
"Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
people. God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Rev.21:2-3).

* A Future Person *

While Moses is considered the hero of Passover, his role is
accomplished. But the real hero of Passover still has a major role to
play. One of the most poignant moments in the Passover occurs when
the youngest child rises from the dinner table to open the door for
Elijah. In some Passover traditions, just as the door is opened, all
stand to their feet and exclaim, "Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai, blessed
is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Then, together we sing the
oldest Hebrew melody known today. "Eliyahu Ha navi. Elijah the
prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Gileadite. Come even in our
days and bring with you Messiah Son of David."

Every year my people stand and every year they sing. And every year
some wonder, "Will he ever come?" They are still waiting. Therein
lies the burden of my heart and that of Jews for Jesus. Our message
is not only that Messiah has come. Ours is a message of hope for the
future. Messiah is coming again. Passover commemorates a redemption
past, and illustrates our present redemption. But it also looks
forward to a redemption that is yet to come.

When the apostle Paul instructed us concerning the Lord's Supper, he
said, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death *till He comes*" (1 Corinthians11:26) Each
time we take the bread and cup we look, not only back to His
suffering, but also forward to the Passover that Jesus promised His
disciples in that upper room. This is a redemption that most Jewish
people do not even realize they long for.

Remember what Jesus said as he wept over Jerusalem: "for I say to
you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes
in the name of the LORD!'" (Matthew 23:39) Each Passover my people
stand and say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."
They believe they are calling for Elijah. But we know that one day
they will stand and call out for Y'shua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the
Messiah. He will come again just as He promised and then we will
celebrate the greatest Passover ever. MARANATHA!

*************************************************************

2. PASSION UPDATE BY SUSAN PERLMAN

*************************************************************

We've had so many opportunities to talk to Jewish people about Jesus
as a result of Mel Gibson's controversial film. A few of us got to
see the pre-screening of "The Passion" at the National Religious
Broadcasters convention. Among those in the audience was an Israeli
who was not a believer. He had very little knowledge of Jesus,
having never read the New Testament. His response to the film was to
feel overwhelmed by the suffering that Jesus endured. He kept asking
the question, "Why did he have to go through all that? Why did he
have to suffer so much?" Many of our missionary staff around the
country are having that same opportunity in conversations with the
Jewish people to whom they minister.

Last month's "Real Time" provided links to a couple of broadside
tracts we wrote in conjuntion with "The Passion." In New York one
Jewish woman who took one of those tracts called to meet with one of
our missionaries . . . and prayed to receive the Lord.

You also saw our Open Letter to Mel Gibson, which appeared in
"Variety Magazine." Since then it has appeared as a full page in the
"New York Times," in the "Washington Times," the "Miami Herald," the
Boston tab papers: Newton, Brookline, Sharon, Marblehead and other
key Jewish areas of the greater Boston area, and in a smattering of
smaller papers that some of our donors have underwritten. We are so
thankful for friends who saw the possibilities of how this ad could
speak into their communities and mobilized their local churches to
place the ads locally.

The controversy over the film also provided us with the opportunity
to share t he gospel with a French TV crew in Los Angeles, with a
Spanish-speaking television station in Canada, a secular radio group
in Baltimore, on the TV news nationwide through MSNBC, and even in
magazines like *People*. If this just gives individuals a taste for
what the gospel is about, it will have made a great impact and we're
just hoping and praying that people will want to hear the rest of the
story and open up the New Testament for themselves.

One of my favorite experiences concerning this is the following:

I was returning from a missions conference in the midwest and as I
was waiting at the gate for my flight I saw a large group of young
people obviously returning from a weekend adventure. One or two were
wearing kippahs (traditional Jewish skullcaps) and from their
animated discussion I gathered they were part of a Jewish youth
group. Their leaders, two young women perhaps in their early
twenties, were not much older than the rest of the group. I struck
up a conversation and they quickly recognized me as being Jewish
also. So one guy them told a joke and the punchline of the joke had
to do with Jews for Jesus. I smiled and said, "You know, you need to
be careful who you make fun of in a joke . . . you never know who you
are talking to." The guy said, "What do you mean?" And I said,
"Well, I'm a Jew for Jesus" which got the attention of the entire
group.

We talked about any number of things, but subject of "The Passion"
produced by Mel Gibson came up inasmuch as it's been all over the
press. The subject of the open letter to Mel Gibson came up and I
pulled out a copy of the New York Times because it had appeared in
the paper just two days earlier. I introduced myself as Susan
Perlman, the author of the letter and they said, "Oh that's you?!"
Suddenly they were all asking to read it. It just so happened that I
had a large handful of reprints in my briefcase, left over from the
missions conference. I told them, "Well, I have some extra copies,
but I'm not going to give them to you unless your leaders say it's
okay." To which the two young women said, "They're free to read what
they like." Many of these young people took copies of the open
letter and I found myself imagining them arriving back at their
homes, knowing their parents would ask them how their Jewish weekend
had gone. I pictured them pulling out the Open Letter to Mel Gibson,
which has the gospel so clearly stated, as a jumping off point for
some very interesting discussions. How I would have loved to have
been a fly on the wall!

*************************************************************

3. FACTS OF JEWISH LIFE, BY RICH ROBINSON

*************************************************************


There are two, or some would even say three, groupings of Jewish people in
the world:

1. Ashkenazic Jews, who come from Eastern Europe;
2. Sephardic Jews, who come from the lands around the Mediterranean
and the Middle East; and some would say
3. Mizrachi Jews, who come from countries such as Iran or Iraq. For a
full description of the three groupings, see Judaism 101's
"Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews":
http://www.jewfaq.org/ashkseph.htm

Many Christians are familiar with the Ashkenazic Passover traditions
as a majority of American Jews are Ashkenazi. For example, Ashkenazi
Jews do not eat lamb at Passover, as a sign of mourning over the
destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.; however, the Sephardi Jews do
not share this custom. Here's are some places where you can expand
your Passover "yiddishkeit" ("Jewishness") and learn about how the
Sephardic Jews celebrate the holiday:

Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions:
http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/sephardicpassovercustoms.html
Sephardic and Ashkenazic Passover Differences:
http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/sephardicandashkenazicpassover.html
The Sephardi Connection's holiday section:
http://sephardiconnect.com/Holidays.htm
A Sephardic Passover:
http://www.foodstyles.com/Menus/a_sephardic_passover.htm

PLEASE NOTE: we do not necessarily endorse all the content you will
see on these or previous sites we mention, but if you read them
judiciously, we hope you will find them both interesting and helpful
for learning.

*************************************************************

4. REMINDER: CHECK FOR "CHRIST IN THE PASSOVER" NEAR YOU

*************************************************************

Remember that this month and part of next many of our missionaries
are on "on the road" presenting "Christ in the Passover." Please
take a look at our speakers' schedule to see if Jews for Jesus is
coming to a town near you. Go to:
http://www.jfjonline.org/pastors/search/speakercalendar.htm

Using the pull-down menu, select your state. We would love to see
you at one of these meetings and it is a perfect opportunity to bring
a friend who needs to hear about redemption through Jesus. Even if
you checked the schedules after receiving last month's "Real Time,"
you might want to check again, since some last minute meetings have
been scheduled.


*************************************************************

5. SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

*************************************************************

Our regular (snailmail) newsletter will feature:

* An article by executive director David Brickner titled "Shame on
You" that points out the importance of Hebrews 12:2
* An introduction of staff members Jack and Alice Meadows as well as
this years crop of missionary trainees
* A message from Moishe to help you witness to your Jewish friends
* Reports on the West Palm Beach and Sydney Behold Your God campaigns
* Bits from our Tel Aviv, Sydney and Toronto branches
* Prayer prompters


*************************************************************

6. WANT TO BE MORE INVOLVED WITH JEWS FOR JESUS? (or if you want to
be less involved and unsubscribe you can scroll down to the bottom of
the page and do so.)

*************************************************************


If you have not been receiving our regular (snail mail) Jews for
Jesus Newsletter and would like to, click here:
http://www.jfjonline.org/pub/e-pubs/subscribe_print.htm

To find out about having one of our missionaries speak at your
church, click here:
http://www.jfjonline.org/pastors/domecontact.htm

To make an online donation, click here:
https://secure.jewsforjesus.org/jfjonline/donate/donation_rt.htm

To pass on names of Christian friends who might like to hear from us,
click here:
http://www.jfjonline.org/pub/e-pubs/friends.htm

If you want us to witness to your Jewish friend through our Letter of
Witness program, click here for a form where you can fill out both
you and your Jewish friend's name and address (we'll need yours for
our records if you submit the name of a Jewish friend):
http://www.jfjonline.org/pub/contact.htm

To see back issues of Jews for Jesus Real Time click here:
http://www.jfjonline.org/pub/realtime.htm