Since childhood, I hated Jesus.  In fact, I hated Him without knowing Him.

 

I am Jewish, but I didn’t grow up reading the Bible. I was taught that all Gentiles hated Jews because we killed Jesus.  I thought Jesus commanded the Gentiles to kill as many Jews as possible.  It seemed to me that through the Crusades, Russian pogroms, and other anti-Semitic events like the Holocaust, the Gentiles followed Jesus’ request.  I hated Him for that.  I and many others called Him, “Yeshu” - a derogatory term in Hebrew.  I knew that Jesus was Jewish. I knew that He was called “Rabbi.” I knew that He walked on water.  Other than that, I didn’t want to hear anything more.  In my eyes, He was a traitor and a murderer.  

 

While I was in school, I searched for a meaning to life and wanted  to really know the G-d of Israel.  I learned about the G-d Who created the universe, the One Who led Abraham to the L-rd, and the One Who protected Joseph in Egypt.  I knew that He had rescued His people from the Egyptians and that He had led the people of Israel to the Promised Land.  I wanted to give Him respect and serve Him because of all these awesome things, so I used to go to the synagogue and pray.  I read the Torah, followed the siddur (Jewish prayer book), and donned Tefillin (Phylacteries: small leather boxes worn by Jewish men that contain Hebrew text).  I had become a Bar Mitzvah (Son of the Commandment) and felt obligated to serve G-d in this way.  

 

Though I really wanted to know G-d more, I still lived a secular life.  Like all the other Israeli youth, I served in the Army.  At that time – I’m sure partly due to the threat and manifestation of death that loomed all around me – the questions about G-d and the meaning of life arose again.

 

After I had completed my service in the Army, I met a man walking along the beach in Tel Aviv.  He was the first Jewish follower of Jesus I had ever met.  He introduced me to Yeshua, whose name means “Salvation” in Hebrew.  I didn’t want to have anything to do with this man because I had been taught that a Jew who accepts Jesus as Yeshua is no longer considered to be a Jew.

 

To continue my search for the Truth, I decided to travel to the Far East.  I enjoyed learning about other cultures and reasoned that maybe they had the truth, but my search only confirmed that the G-d of Israel is the one, true

G-d.  When I came back to Israel, I was broke and pretty angry about life.  Even though I was traveling to the most beautiful places on earth, I found no place of peace in my heart. I wanted to leave Israel again to a new destiny. I had always wanted to study martial arts and to live as a monk in Japan, but thank G-d I didn’t pursue that outrageous plan. Instead, I met an evangelist that spoke with me about Yeshua.  

 

When I first met him, I thought that this man was totally insane and a traitor. However, I also sensed that this man had something that I didn’t have:  he had peace.  When I saw his reaction to an attack by Orthodox Jews (he had peace and assurance, not hatred or fear), then I started to be more interested about the Yeshua of his salvation.  He shared a book with me, which was actually his own testimony.  Months later, I read it and was led to then read the Bible.  That’s when I realized how little of the Bible I actually knew. I found that Yeshua was foretold throughout the Tenach.  I realized that He is a prophet and a teacher, and that He was the One that paid a humble death in order that others may live and have eternal life.  The more I read the Bible, the more I realized how much G-d loves me and the Jewish people.  I realized how very Jewish it is to accept Him.  Yeshua is my Messiah, my way to reconciliation with G-d.

 

A year later, I met again with that evangelist. After talking with him and meeting dozens of other Israeli believers, I realized that Yeshua was waiting for me to say, “Yes.”  Three weeks later, with the help of all my new friends, I prayed to accept Yeshua. For the first time in my life, I sensed the touch of the Holy Spirit.  It was a very new experience for me because I didn’t know about the Holy Spirit. I was truly born again!

 

My life was changed dramatically after my salvation.  I was involved more and more in a Messianic congregation and read more of His Word.  My parents resisted all these changes in me at first, but finally realized that Yeshua is very real.  Though they’ve been introduced to the Truth, to this day they have yet to give their lives to Him.  

 

Today, I am involved in the leadership of a Messianic Synagogue in Dallas, Texas called Baruch HaShem (Blessed Be the Name).  The L-rd has promoted me to be the Youth Leader and also the leader of our Jewish outreach. Please pray that the G-d of Israel will open the eyes of many of the Jewish people in Israel and all over the world.  So far, the L-rd has given me the honor to lead four American Jews and seven Israeli Jews to salvation.  I praise G-d for that;  it is a great struggle but very worthwhile!  The Bible says in Isaiah 62, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent.”

This means that G-d will not rest until all Israel will be saved.  

 

My strongest desire is that my brothers and sisters – my flesh and blood, the Jews - will come to know their Messiah and mine, Yeshua, The Jew.