Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Last week, a record number of Israelis visited the Temple Mount.
According to some sources, more than 1,200 Jews entered the holy site to mark the fast of Tisha b'Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple. Hundreds more were not allowed in because, unlike Muslims, Jews can enter the Temple Mount for only four hours a day through a single gate equipped with metal detectors.
This number of visitors in a single day is the highest since 1967. Even so, statistically speaking, it was a surprisingly low turnout, considering that seven million Jews now live in Israel. One reason for this is that a great many Israeli Jews simply don't think much of the Temple Mount. For far too many, Judaism's holiest site is a religious relic of the past. These Israelis would probably have agreed with Moshe Dayan, who, instead of establishing firm Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount in 1967, asked, "Why do I need this Vatican?" and handed it over to the Islamic Trust (Waqf).
But far more Israelis will not ascend the Mount for religious reasons. Still today, the rabbinic prohibition on entering the sacred compound is viewed by the majority as obligatory. The rabbinic ruling is predicated on the inability to determine where exactly the Temple once stood, meaning that one risks inadvertently treading on the area of the Holy of Holies. To do so would invite upon oneself the severe "cutting off" (Kareth) punishment, which means either death by divine hand or being cut off from the people of Israel.
The significantly large number of people who did enter the Temple Mount last week has prompted Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to issue a special warning reminding the people that "Halacha [rabbinic ruling] forbids ascension to the Mount, and those Jews who do ascend desecrate the holiness of the Mount." Rabbi Yosef's opinion, shared by other leading rabbis, most of them ultra-Orthodox, is a powerful deterrent for many Jews.
However, if in the past this prohibition ruled supreme, today more and more rabbis are saying the exact opposite, that it is obligatory to ascend the Temple Mount. These rabbis, mostly from the national religious faction, justify their opinion by presuming to know which places on the Mount are off-limits. In addition, they say, because of the Israeli government's appalling discriminatory policy against Jews, "the need to ascend the Mount is even more important because it has a 'conquering' aspect to it."
This second group of rabbis is calling for nothing less than toppling the sacred traditional halachic ruling that is still very much in force. The record number of Jews who entered the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av is a clear sign that the times are changing. It is most likely that in the future more and more Jews will reject the old dictum and ascend the Mount in greater numbers, challenging both the Israeli government and the Muslim world.
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I was a little surprised that Christianity Today published an article written by two rabbis, Yehiel Poupko and David Sandmel, who reject Yeshua as the Messiah, claiming that Yeshua did not eat a Passover Seder with his disciples. Furthermore, they exhorted Christians to stop hosting Passover Seders. I want to respond their arguments, because I strongly disagree with both points. But first, let me share where I agree with them—and maybe this is the reason that Christianity Today allowed them the platform.
Where I Agree
Something has changed.
About 25 years ago, when I began to travel as a Messianic Jewish teacher/evangelist, I never felt any animosity against me because I continued to live as a Jew or because I didn't connect to Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter (but also don't condemn those who do). However, over the past several years, I see more and more confusion over Messianic Judaism. Most of the confusion stems from non-Jewish believers feeling compelled to live as Jews or as ritually Torah observant—and then seek to "confront and convert" friends and family members, often with a less-than-humble attitude, to the point of alienation. I have received so many emails from wounded family members over the years.
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements (click here to learn more about these movements) have stained the reputation of Messianic Judaism because the average Christian assumes we are one in the same. The main difference between Messianic Judaism and these other groups is this—Messianic Judaism encourages:
Jewish people to embrace Yeshua.
Jewish believers to continue to live as Jews, as the disciples did.
Non-Jewish believers to feel free to worship with us as equals in the kingdom, without having to embrace Jewishness (Acts 15).
The Hebrew Roots and One Law/Torah movements seek to compel non-Jews to forsake all extra-biblical traditions and embrace Torah, meaning, to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, celebrate Jewish feasts and holy days, keep kosher (Mosaic dietary laws), celebrate New Moons and to understand the Scriptures from a Hebraic mindset. I do agree with the last point, that the church would do well to have a more Jewish understanding of Yeshua (that is why I wrote Identity Theft), but I don't believe that non-Jewish believers are to be compelled to live as Jews.
The influence of this movement is working its way into our churches and seminaries. It's dangerous in its implication that keeping the Old Covenant law is walking a "higher path," and is the only way to please God and receive His blessings. Nowhere in the Bible do we find Gentile believers being instructed to follow Levitical laws or Jewish customs.
While I agree with the quote, it does seem Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to celebrate Passover (1 Cor. 5:7-8), and when Yeshua returns, all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16). It is not my place to tell people what they can and cannot celebrate. Non-Jews are free to embrace Jewish holidays, but should not be coerced. At the same time, I do understand the rabbis' concern.
Misusing the Symbols of Another
The rabbis wrote, "adopting another's ritual shows a lack of respect. Even when pursued with the best of intentions, taking another faith's sacred ritual and transforming it into an expression of one's own tradition displays a misunderstanding of the complex nature of faith traditions." I recorded a video a few years back called, "Shofar Abuse" to express concern that many were not treating the sacred symbols of Judaism with proper respect.
For example, when I walk into a church and see a woman wearing a Jewish prayer shawl, I tremble inside, understanding that for an Orthodox Jew, this is extremely disrespectful. I am sure that the woman loves Israel and the Jewish people and has no idea she is being a stumbling block. However, a prayer shawl or tallit is given to a Jewish boy at his Bar Mitzvah. It should not touch the ground and must be treated with respect. In orthodox synagogues, a woman would not wear one.
Can you see why the rabbis who wrote this article might have a point?
Where I Disagree
Was the most famous Passover meal a Seder?
It is ironic that while rabbis admit there is no Passover meal more famous than the Last Supper, they claim it was not a Seder—that the Seder, as we know it today, only came about after the destruction of the Temple. It is true that Judaism went through a massive post-Temple reform in the years following 70 C.E.
Yochanan Ben Zakai led the movement to recreate Judaism in a way that the Temple would not be essential, as it was destroyed. Over time, the oral traditions were codified and put into writing. The rabbis correctly state, "The Seder ritual, as it is practiced today, did not exist at the time of Jesus. It was only fully developed by the rabbis in the years following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E."
However, their conclusion that this means Yeshua did not participate in a Seder is absurd. This was just 40 years before 70 C.E.—where do they think these customs came from? They were not all simply invented in the years following the Temple's demise. We see in Yeshua's Seder many of the same things we see in a modern Seder. Apologist Michael Rydelnik agrees:
Some examples include ritual hand washing, the breaking of bread or matzah, the use of red wine, reciting the Hallel psalms (they sang a hymn after the meal), the anticipation of the messianic kingdom (Jesus said I won't drink of this cup until I drink it with you in the kingdom), eating ground-up bitter herbs (called the sop that Jesus passed to Judas). The great scholar Joachim Jeremias, in the Eucharistic Words of Christ, notes 14 of these clear associations with the Passover Seder. So, even if the Last Supper was not a Seder as practiced today, it certainly was an incipient Seder, as practiced before 70 CE.
How can the traditional Haggadah (the book that guides us through the Passover Seder) claim that traditions go back to Rabbi Hillel, who died almost a decade before Jesus was born, if indeed everything started in 70 C.E.?
Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Paschal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law "You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror."
The New Testament also records that they were reclining as they ate: "While they were reclining at the table eating... (Mark 14:18, NIV). The Haggadah asks, "On all other nights, everyone sits up straight at the table, why on this night do we recline and eat at leisure?" Clearly this was a Seder. He breaks the matzah before the meal—just as we are to do—and then Yeshua takes wine after dinner, just as the Haggadah prescribes a third cup after the meal—the cup of redemption, and He would become our ge'ula, redemption.
A Better Question
My question to the rabbis is this: How did such an overtly Messianic/Christian theme end up in the traditional Jewish Seder? I am referring to the Afikoman:
Prior to the meal, this matzah was broken, wrapped in linen, and hidden away. Following the dinner, the matzah reappears. For the Messianic Jewish community, the afikomen symbolically represents the Messiah, as Jesus' body was broken, wrapped in linen, buried and raised on the third day.
Not to mention that matzah is unleavened bread. Leaven represents sin. Yeshua was the "lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:19, MEV)—without sin.
Can you Separate Passover from Yeshua?
I know the rabbis are walking a tightrope in their article. On the one hand, they don't want to offend their Christian audience by saying, "Jesus was a fraud," (However, the truth remains that if traditional Judaism is correct—that the Messiah has not come—then Christianity is idolatry and Jesus was a counterfeit Messiah. Only one can be correct.) but neither do they want you to think it is possible for a believer to be inspired in their faith in Yeshua through a Jewish Passover Seder. They speak highly of Christianity, as well as traditional Judaism, while seeking to claim something akin to: "You have the Eucharist and we have the Passover meal—don't confuse them."
They correctly state, "For most of Christian history, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, replaced the Jewish Passover Seder." But that doesn't mean it was correct. They see Christianity as many who embrace replacement/reform theology do. They assume that all believers embrace the idea that the church has replaced Israel. We don't. And most of these replacements were done by anti-Semitic leaders, like Emperor Constantine, who sought to rid Christianity of any Jewish influence or St. John Chrysostom, who was so concerned about Judaism's influence on believers that he taught, "It is every Christian's duty to hate the Jews."
The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar. Jewish Christians, the first to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, timed the observance in relation to Passover. Direct evidence for a more fully-formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century.
That was more than 100 years after the resurrection. Early Christians were familiar with the Passover story, as Paul refers to Yeshua as the Passover Lamb when writing the non-Jews in Corinth. John calls him the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and Peter uses the lamb symbolically to explain how Yeshua purchased us with His blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). When explaining baptism as going from death to life, Paul uses the imagery of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea, from the old life of slavery to the new life of freedom.
You simply cannot separate Christian or Messianic theology from the Passover story. Yes, Yeshua fulfills the Passover, but he doesn't cancel the traditional Passover. He would come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate, and it was no mistake He was crucified on Passover.
Identifying as Messianic Jews?
And what about Jewish believers? Can we still celebrate Passover? Is it no longer our history if we believe Yeshua to be the Messiah? Many Chabad Jews believe that their deceased Rebbe is the Messiah (I saw a sign today that said of him, "Long live King Messiah"), but no one is telling them they can't celebrate Passover. And, of course, I love their description of Messianic Jews:
In evangelical settings, the promotion of Christian Seders by those who identify as Messianic Jews and other such affiliations has also contributed to its growth.
I don't identify as a Messianic Jew, in the way that a transgender may be male but identify as female. By using this terminology, they are gently saying there is no such thing as a Messianic Jew—only one who identifies as such.
Conclusion
If I put myself in the place of the rabbis, I do understand their concern. They feel that a much larger worldwide movement is kidnapping their religious ceremonies and rituals, and adding Jesus. However, you cannot deny:
That without Judaism there is no Christianity.
Yeshua's original followers were Passover-celebrating Jews.
He established Passover as clearly pointing to His death and resurrection by taking the unleavened bread and saying, "This is my body."
Therefore, yes, Christians can and should celebrate Passover (as they did in the early church). At the same time, they should be very sensitive to the Jewish people so as not to dishonor the Passover. The Church is called to provoke Israel to jealousy, not merely provoke her.
Ron Cantoris the director of Messiah's Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.
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A group of leading Israeli rabbis see in US President-elect Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin echoes of King Cyrus of Persia, who 2,500 years ago assisted the Jewish people in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.
Prof. Rabbi Hillel Weiss, a spokesman for the Sanhedrin, a modern effort to revive the ancient Jewish religious court, noted in remarks reported by Israel National News:
“The political conditions today, in which the two most important national leaders in the world support the Jewish right to Jerusalem as their spiritual inheritance, is historically unprecedented.”
The Sanhedrin sent letters to both Trump and Putin urging them to work together to fulfill a project that will benefit all mankind - the rebuilding of the Holy Temple atop Jerusalem’s hotly contested Temple Mount.
Both leaders have expressed support for Jewish claims to Jerusalem, though Trump has certainly been the most vocal of the two.
At any rate, Israel is “poised to rebuild the Temple,” Weiss insisted.
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According to a new report by Breaking Israel News, several rabbis have concluded President-Elect Donald Trump's win Tuesday night/Wednesday morning over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "the will of God."
As the rabbi who oversees the final resting place of King David on Mount Zion, Rabbi Yosef Berger is intimately connected to the spirituality of kingship. For him it was clear what tipped the scales in favor of the Republican underdog.
"I have known for months that Donald Trump would win the elections," Rabbi Berger told Breaking Israel News. "The gematria (numerology) of his name is Moshiach (Messiah). He is connected to the Messianic process which is happening right now. When he promised to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, he attached himself to the power of Moshiach, which gave him the boost he needed. If you separate from Jerusalem, disaster will follow."
When taking the gematria into account, it was clear that Trump had a spiritual edge. As Rabbi Berger pointed out, the gematria for Donald Trump in Hebrew (דונלד טראמפ) is 424, which is equal to the gematria of "Messiah for the House of David" (משיח בן דוד). The Ben Ish Chai, an authority on Jewish law and master kabbalist who lived in Baghdad 150 years ago, interpreted the number 212 as a difficult time for Israel before the Final Redemption. Trump's gematria is twice that, signifying an ongoing Messiah process.
Rabbi Berger was clear on how this election fit into the process of Messiah. "As the spiritual descendant of the biblical nation of Edom, America has a very important role to play in the Messiah. But in order to be suited for that role, America had to be humbled," Rabbi Berger stated.
"In order to establish his kingdom, God had to create confusion, a situation in which the best plans laid by the most powerful people, comes to nothing."
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This past week Love For His People received an email from Hungary, from someone we had not known before. They had found our website by searching for "those who love Israel". That would certainly include us!
Since that initial correspondence and what has followed (I share some below) we have decided to support their work monthly, in order to help Jews make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel. We too see the great need to assist those needing to return to the Land given to them by the Lord Almighty.
I hope this stirs something in your hear too.
Shalom,
Steve Martin
Founder/Presidnet
Love For His People, Inc.
July 5, 2016
Budapest, Hungary
Shalom Steve and Laurie.
Firstly I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my Email. I came across your webpage on the internet by searching "those who love Israel"
My name is Jim Clint, I’m originally from Northern Ireland but have lived also in both Israel and Hungary. Along with my Hungarian born wife and three children we gave up everything in the Northern Ireland in July 2013 to dedicate our lives to helping Hungarian Jews make Aliyah (return) to Israel. Our children attend Jewish schools here in Budapest. My wife's late grandfather was a Romanian Jew.
Around 600,000 Hungarian Jews perished in Nazi death camps in 1944-45. Sadly antisemitism is growing again in Hungary at an alarming rate. In a recent article it stated that over 30% of Hungarians are anti-Semitic. The Hungarian Far Right (anti-Semitic) party "Jobbik" increased their percentage of the vote from 1% in 2006, to 21% in 2014. The rise of nationalism in Europe is increasing at a rapid pace, sadly it's the Jews of Europe who will once again be blamed for all of Europe's woes. We are certainly living in very interesting times. Please have a look at a web-page I set up to highlight the dangers facing the Jews of Hungary, especially the antisemitism page attached… Jewish Hungary The situation for the Jews of Hungary is steadily getting worse.
Jewish Hungary Once again anti-Semitism has risen it's ugly head here in Hungary. Just over seventy years ago around 600,000 Hungarian speaking Jews perished in Nazi death camp...
In order to carry out this work among Hungarian Jews we depend upon the financial support from individuals and groups. Without this support we would simply not be able to operate. If you know of any churches or groups who might consider supporting us please give them our contact details.
We help more needy Jewish people financially. This includes paying for the following: new Israeli passports, translation of documents from Hungarian to Hebrew, police checks, travel expenses to and from Jewish Agency meetings, family research documents, new suitcases and much more....
Please free to share our information with others who might be interested in helping, if you require more information about what we do, and the UK charity we represent I’d be glad to send it. The Jewish Agency in Budapest will confirm for you who I am.
All the very best and thank you for your time.
With every blessing in Yeshua
Jim Clint “Budapest Hungary 2016”
July 6, 2016
Budapest, Hungary
Shalom Steve.
Dear brother we would be greatly blessed by whatever amount we receive. I have been writing to congregations and pro-Israel groups for a long time trying to raise awareness for Hungarian Aliyah. Sadly we receive very little response, still we know that Yeshua is able to provide for our needs.
I was involved in Street Evangelism in Israel between 1993-99, I knew many Messianic leaders. I also worked in Kibbutzim in the Galilee in 1991. My wife's late grandfather was Jewish, from Satu Mare in Romania. Yeshua has given us fantastic connections in the Jewish community here in Hungary. We've been able to share Yeshua to Rabbis, teachers and many individuals. We have won the respect of the community here, working from the inside out because of our connections to the Jewish school.
Thank you once again, blessings to Laurie and yourself, and also all the fellowship.
In Yeshua
Jim, Nauszika, Sara Rose, Naomi Ruth and Yonatan Israel CLINT
July 9, 2016
Hi Jim.
I worked for Derek Prince Ministries for 8 years, Mahesh Chavda Ministries for 14 and Vision for Israel (Barry & Batya Segal) for 5 years. Each had been to Budapest a few times, so I learned a little of the people there. I believe Faith Church is in Budapest. Always wanted to go with one of these, but I was the office manager/Director. In 2010 my wife and I started Love For His People, Inc. to specifically help the Jewish people in Israel. Now we can also help them get there!
That's amazing Steve. In Northern Ireland my wife and I used our store house for a collection point for Joseph Storehouse. After that Storehouse only picked up from England and Wales and not Ireland. Barry and Batya spoke at a small Messianic congregation I founded in Northern Ireland last year.
I have many of Derek Princes sermons saved from YouTube, he was a true friend of Israel.
The Faith Church in Budapest is pro-Israel but not pro-Aliyah, I tried to contact the Pastor Sandor Nemet a few times to make myself know but he never got back to me. I know two Messianic Jewish ladies who attended his meetings years ago but left. We have our own home bible studies here in Budapest. There's so much Replacement Theology in the "churches" here. The Far Right members are connected to both the Roman Catholic and Reformed groups in Hungary. There's no love for the Jewish people in either group.
It's a blessing brother that you can be part of helping Hungarian Jews home to Israel. You'll understand I'm sure how difficult it is to raise support for anything connected to the Jews. (Apart from Ezra we have only 5 donors who have supported us for the last three years, this includes our home fellowship of Shalom Messianic Congregation in Northern Ireland) . Brother you can see how blessed we are to have you on board, please do share our details with others.
I'll send you updates from time to time, because of confidentiality I'm not allowed to disclose the full names and photographs of Jewish people we help. This is what we promised the Jewish Agency here in Budapest. We have excellent relations with them.
I suppose you have heard about the troop buildups in Poland and Latvia! There could well be a conflict with Russia at some point, this will no doubt lead to problems for the Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Hungary. The European Union has been pumping money to improve the main west to east arterial routes in Eastern European countries. This I have heard is for easy troop and artillery movement in the event of a war with Russia. Europe is not prepared, it has a massive dept. Putin could easily take the Ukraine and the Baltic states.
In Israel they are gearing up to duel with Hezbollah again, this time Iran has moved some units close to the Golan Heights. Ezekiel 38 & 39 could well be played out soon, we'll see.
UN Rejects Israel's Claim to the Golan Heights as Top Rabbis Await the Messiah's Imminent Arrival
Asking Israel to give the Golan Heights back to Syria is kind of like asking the United States to give Texas back to Mexico. (Courtesy)
The U.N. Security Council has unanimously rejected Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and this is likely to cause tensions in the Middle East to rise even higher. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boldly declared "that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel's sovereignty permanently." After close to 50 years of control over the Golan Heights, this should not have been much of a shock. But the Arab world immediately went into an uproar, and the U.N. Security Council has taken action. In a unanimous decision, the U.N. Security Council has announced that Israel's claims to the Golan Heights are "null and void and without international legal effect."
So once again, the United Nations and the nation of Israel are directly at odds with one another, because the truth is that Israel is never going to leave the Golan Heights as long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power. The following comes from CNN:
Israel's Prime Minister has declared that the Golan Heights will remain permanently under the country's control, during Israel's first Cabinet meeting held in the territory.
"The time has come for the international community to recognize reality, especially two basic facts," said Benjamin Netanyahu during a Cabinet meeting Sunday.
"One, whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change. Two, after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel's sovereignty permanently."
Asking Israel to give the Golan Heights back to Syria is kind of like asking the United States to give Texas back to Mexico.
It just isn't going to happen.
But thanks in large part to pressure from the Islamic world, the U.N. Security Council remains bound and determined to take that strategically important sliver of land away from Israel.
On Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council expressed "deep concern" that the Israeli government is claiming permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
"Council members expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan, and stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged," China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, president of the 15-nation Security Council this month, told reporters after a closed-door meeting.
He added that council resolution 497 of 1981 made clear that Israel's decision at the time to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the Golan was "null and void and without international legal effect."
Council statements are adopted by consensus, which means all its members, including Israel's ally the United States, backed it.
Of course the Obama administration was definitely going to go along with this U.N. Security Council statement, because it has consistently proven to be the most anti-Israel administration in modern U.S. history.
Late last year, there was a lot of talk about a potential U.N. Security Council resolution which would have permanently divided the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem and that would have set the parameters for a Palestinian state. At that time, the Obama administration was not quite ready to pull the trigger.
However, now that the end of Obama's second term is rapidly approaching, it appears that things have changed. There has been a lot of talk in the mainstream media about how such a resolution is now "on the table," and members of Congress were so alarmed that 388 of them sent a letter to Obama urging him not to do this. The following comes from the Wall Street Journal:
Several hundred Democratic and Republican lawmakers are urging the White House not to back any resolution at the United Nations that sets parameters for Israeli-Palestinian talks, a move President Barack Obama has been considering.
In a letter to Mr. Obama, 388 members of the House, including Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said U.S. support for a U.N. Security Council resolution would "dangerously hinder" the prospects of resuming direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"We are deeply troubled by reports that one-sided initiatives may arise at the U.N. in the coming months concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the letter says.
As you can see, even Nancy Pelosi is opposing Obama on this.
But will that stop him?
Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, top rabbis over in Israel are convinced that the arrival of the Messiah is imminent. Two extremely prominent figures in the Jewish faith recently got together for a very important conversation, and this made headlines all over the world.
Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, Vice-President of the Rabbinical Court and the Head of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem, paid a rare visit to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky at his home in Bnei Barak. They are two of the most prominent Torah figures alive today. Conversations between such great men have enormous significance and the Hebrew-language website Kikar Shabbatrecorded the dialogue between these two great rabbis.
Much of their conversation centered on expectations regarding the coming of the Messiah. As you can see, they clearly believe that it could happen at literally any time.
Rabbi Kanievsky said that troubles were to be expected. "It is the days before Messiah," he explained.
Rabbi Sternbuch agreed. "In the End of Days, those who fear God will despair and their hands will loosen from fighting God's war against the sinners, and there will be no one to rely upon except God," he said, adding, "We have to bring the Messiah."
Rabbi Kanievsky answered that the Messiah should be arriving in the very near future. He quoted the Talmud (Megillah 17b) again, saying, "In the year after shmittah the Son of David will come."
The year after the Shemitah on the Jewish calendar ends this October, so until then, messianic expectations will be running high in Israel.
But at the same time, a geopolitical drama is playing out on the world stage which may eventually result in a great war coming to the land. If the U.N. Security Council does decide to pass a resolution permanently dividing the land, that is going to cause tensions in the region to go through the roof.
In the Bible, we are told that Israel will be playing a central role in the events of the last days, and this is definitely shaping up to be the case. In a recent episode of our television show, my wife and I discussed this extensively. Even though the land of Israel is only about the size of New Jersey, and even though only a tiny fraction of the global population lives there, the attention of the rest of the planet is constantly focused on it.
Unfortunately for the United States, the Obama administration has chosen a path that is radically anti-Israel, and that is going to end up having very serious implications for all of us.
Michael Snyderis the founder and publisher of End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled "The Rapture Verdict"is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.
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