Apples of Gold Mar/Apr 2020

Most countries are against Israel. I am sure that if any other country had as many enemies as Israel does, it would not exist anymore. It would have been erased from the map a long time ago. But you see, even though we are a little nation with many enemies, we have a big obligation before the Lord and the nations.

Isaiah 49:3 says, “You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” Today people are coming from the ends of the earth here to Jerusalem, as Isaiah 2:3 foretold:

Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Even in this time of many shootings, we continue to bring His salvation to people. Shootings cannot prevent us from preaching the gospel of Christ.

Recently, a group of ultra-Orthodox men came to my home to examine my mezuzah to see if it was kosher. [Ed. Note: A mezuzah is a parchment scroll inscribed with Scripture that is rolled up and affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes.] They make a good income by checking people’s mezuzahs. “You have to pay!” one told me.

“Why?” I asked them.

“Because we have examined your mezuzah and found it is not kosher enough,” one answered.

“How do you know this?” I asked. I could tell no one had asked them that question before. People usually just pay. They were very unhappy.

“You are the first one who has asked us such a question,” one replied.

“I believe in the living God,” I told them. “And what you are doing is against the will of the Lord.” I read to them Exodus 18:20: “And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.”

“This is written only for those who do not believe in God,” one said. Then he proceeded to show me books written by rabbis.

“Why are you standing here at the door? Come inside, and we will continue our nice conversation,” I told them. So they came inside and sat around the table, and my wife brought us refreshments.

“Do you believe everything written in the Bible?” I asked them.

“Why are you asking us such questions? You see our holy work,” one responded.

“Yes, I see how you go to people and try to swindle them and take their money. Deuteronomy 7:16 says, ‘Nor shall you serve their gods.’ And what are you doing? You are dancing around them.”

My words surprised them. “How can you say this?” one demanded.

I told them they are dancing around the rabbinical traditions and their false “messiah.” They claim the messiah was the late Menachem Mendel Schneerson, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi from New York who died in 1994. I handed them a Bible and said, “Please show me in the Bible where it is written that the Messiah will come from New York. If you show me, then I will believe as you do. Are you ready?”

“Do you believe the Messiah will come?” one asked.

“I believe He has already come,” I answered. Then I quickly turned to Isaiah 53 and gave it to them to read.

After they read the passage, one looked at me and said, “Now we know about whom you speak.”

“Is this our Bible or not?” I asked. “Why do you not worship and obey as it is written? Instead you busy yourselves with this ‘holy work,’ taking money from people. It is my duty to bring His salvation to people like you.”

“Why do we not read this chapter in the synagogues?” one asked.

“Because you grew up in such deep blindness,” I said. “Open your eyes and see the truth.” I pray God will open their eyes to understand their Messiah has already come and will one day return.

The Friends of Israel Archives

Zvi Kalisher (1928–2014) was a Holocaust survivor who was known for his unswerving faithfulness to the Lord and his bold witness in Jerusalem. He was with The Friends of Israel for more than 55 years.