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Steve Herzig

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2011

There are 450 different theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in the United States, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks. Disney, the largest and most recognized, has six…

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Jewish people react to the topic of the Holy Spirit much like Gentiles react to gefilte fish—with a rolling of the eyes and contortion of the face. Gentiles react that way…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2011

Students at Princeton University voted last fall on a referendum combining politics and cuisine. The issue raised by The Princeton Committee for Palestine wanted students to approve a boycott on hummus.

Reasons to Pray

All was quiet except for the windshield wipers swishing vainly back and forth as heavy snow reduced visibility to zero. It was a good time to pray—for many reasons

Why the Waqf Rules

When Israeli statesman Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in 2000, he was surrounded by 1,000 Israeli police. His visit, along with the announcement that the complex would…

O the Good Life!

When the United Nations voted to create the independent State of Israel in 1948, most of world Jewry rejoiced. Israel provided a safe haven for thousands of traumatized Jewish Holocaust survivors…

The One Deuteronomy 18:15–22

Jewish people have been looking for the promised Redeemer since the days of Moses. Who is He, and what should they look for? The Scriptures reveal all.

Getting the Gist of J Street

A new movement is afoot to strip Israel of its Jewish identity. And, remarkably, the people propelling it are Jewish.

Z Street: The Zionist Answer to J Street

Not all American Jews are happy with J Street. In fact, in July 2009 Lori Lowenthal Marcus cofounded a rebuttal: Z Street. “The Z stands for Zionism,” she said in a telephone…

Turning Their Backs on a Jewish Israel

Eleven years ago, Israeli-born Meyrav Wurmser, then-executive director of the distinguished Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), wrote an article titled “Can Israel Survive Post-Zionism?” Israel, she said, was “in the midst…

144,000 Good Men

Using salt when instructions call for sugar dramatically changes a recipe. Sugar and salt are not the same, and no amount of symbolic interpretation can make them so. You must take…

We Answer to a Higher Authority

Christian Zionists have a deep commitment to Israel. Learn what motivates their love and how they are perceived by the Jewish community.

The Ultimate Loser

The Devil (the chief evil spirit) is an intriguing personality. The late comic Flip Wilson made audiences roar with his routine “the Devil made me do it.” Books, songs, and documentaries…

Once There Was a Wicked, Wicked Man

Yes, the villain Haman is still remembered year after year as Jewish children sing this little song. The lyrics help them learn the story from the biblical book of Esther as they celebrate…

It Happened in Persia

If I perish, I perish! Those words probably mean little in Western society where people routinely use expressions like “I’ll just die” or “kill me now” when encountering the least…

Daniel or Denial?

Although the text of the book of Daniel is the same for Christians and Jews, profound differences exist in its interpretation. If understood literally and historically, the book is easy…

Victory at Armageddon

Some say Israel’s existence threatens world stability. Eliminate Israel and the world will achieve peace. So say the misinformed. Yet this worldview is thriving. In fact, a day is coming…

The Passover Lamb

Matzoh, matzoh, matzoh. There’s plenty of matzoh on Passover tables around the world. But something else is conspicuously absent.

Operation Love Israel

Thousands of Philadelphians braved the traffic and cold recently to tell the world they love Israel and would stand by it through its war with Hamas terrorists. The noon rally…

My Seder Memories

One of my mother’s favorite singers is Barbra Streisand. A recording of her singing “The Way We Were” played in the background when we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary…

The Jerusalem Road

The Romans Road is a familiar term to evangelicals. It refers to a series of verses in the New Testament book of Romans that many use to teach the gospel. Although it is efficient…

Is He or Isn’t He?

Is Jesus the only way to God? CNN’s Larry King seems to want to know—along with millions of other people, some of whom have rather interesting points of view.

How Many Gods?

So reads a billboard along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, erected by PhillyCOR (the Greater Philadelphia Coalition of Reason). The coalition defines itself as a group of free thinkers, atheists, humanists…

Invest in the Future

It seemed set in stone. Any family celebration that took place in my family took place at Mom’s house. For 50 years she directed every facet of every event, decided…

Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?

So you don’t believe a virgin can bear a child? You’re not alone. But you should believe it, particularly if you’re Jewish. Read this article and learn why.

Matthew 1: Certificate of Authenticity

For 132 years the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) Dog Show has been held in New York City. Broadcast on cable television from Madison Square Garden, this fierce competition is considered one of the most prestigious…

Can You Stay for an Extra Day?

It is the last day of your long-awaited vacation. And you think, I’d just love another day. Or you’re a grandparent hosting the out-of-town grandchildren. And when it’s time for them to leave…

Why Tabernacles is Important for You!

Sukkot, or Tabernacles, begins this year on October 13 at sundown, five days after Yom Kippur, and commemorates God’s provision and protection of the Jewish people during their 40-year trek through the wilderness.

Jehoshaphat’s Big Mistake

Jehoshaphat played the fool by trying to travel two roads at the same time. And the admonishment God gave him back then still applies to us today.

His Shepherd Cyrus

World history is boring!” Did you ever hear such a thing? I know I did. Why learn the names of people and places you never heard of? What difference does it make?

Bound for Babylon

Tell 10 Jewish people they are the Chosen People of God and at least half will reply, “I wish He had chosen someone else!” While such an example of Jewish wit is amusing…

You’ve Come A Long Way, Israel

Israel may be small, but it ranks high when it comes to education. Such regard for learning is rooted in Scripture. Nehemiah 8:8 states, “They read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God…

Making Medicines That Help the World

Seventy-one-year-old Iowa resident Ruth Brown may have no idea that she owes a debt of gratitude to an Israeli company located south of Haifa. Doctors had probed Ruth’s stomach and performed a colonoscopy…

Israel: A Technology Power House

When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.” So says the investment firm of E. F. Hutton, anyway. The company’s slogan made the point that it is so good at what it does that everyone…

The Jewish ‘Doomsday Clock’

The Doomsday Clock (see doomsdayclock.org) has graced the cover of each issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago since the magazine’s inception in 1947. Midnight symbolizes total nuclear destruction…

Israel’s True Tikvah

They looked for Him throughout all their agonies and heartaches, through centuries of oppression and persecution. The Hebrew Scriptures clearly told of His coming. So what happened?

How to Identify Him

Genesis 49:10—His Authority The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. This portion…

The Emerging Church: What Is It?

Candles, incense, mood music. Can this be church? A revolution is taking place in worship, and it’s causing many people to look around with wonder and ask, “What’s going on?”

The EC and Israel

Historically, church saints have looked to God to take them up to meet the Lord in the air at any moment (1 Th. 4). Furthermore, said theologian David L. Larsen, “Neither John…

Glossary for the Emerging Church Movement

Absolutism: theory of objective values; a philosophy in which such values as truth and morality are absolute and not conditional based on human perception. Conversation: expresses the desire to interact and share…

The Faithful Remnant

To most people, the word remnant means something that is left over. Leftovers aren’t usually thought of positively. One thinks of leftover food, a sock that missed the laundry, or screws…

Solving the Sin Problem

So reads The Friends of Israel’s doctrinal statement. Although sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, the knowledge of sin came through the Mosaic Law given to the Jewish…

A Better Sacrifice

When I was a boy, my grandmother would take me downtown to a butcher who sold live chickens. This was an important trip for her. She took great pains…

The World of the Hasidim Conclusion

Without question, Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (also known as the Besht and the Ba’al Shem Tov) left a permanent mark on Judaism. The Hasidic (ultra-Orthodox) movement flourished under his care. But all Hasidic…

The Roots of Nazism

How could a country that gave the world the great reformer Martin Luther also produce Adolf Hitler? The answer may shock you.

The World of the Hasidim Part Two

Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer, known as the Ba’al Shem Tov (“Master of the Good Name”), is such a significant figure in Jewish history that even today his name evokes admiration and respect…

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

God is the author of Klanism,” and Jesus Christ was the Klan’s “first real member.” So said the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1925.1 “Just like Christ, I have a duty to my own…

O Jewish Town of Bethlehem

This time of year these are the thoughts most often associated with the birth of the Lord Jesus. Pastoral little Bethlehem, in the midst of shepherds and their sheep, peaceful and tranquil before the appearance…

Jewish and Christian Tradition Get It Right

The biblical explanation of the origin of man and the world around him should satisfy Jewish people as well as Bible-believing Christians. Yet some in both groups reject the Genesis creation account.

Darwin’s Turn From Christianity

Charles Darwin was born February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was an evolutionist/naturalist, poet, and philosopher. His father, Robert, was a successful and wealthy physician. His mother died when he was eight.

The Monkey Trial

It was called the “trial of the century.” Eighty years ago this month the Scopes trial brought evolution to the forefront in American education.

Making the Wrong Assumptions

Never assume anything.” This well-known adage works particularly well when applied to the science of biblical interpretation. Assuming too much about a scriptural text can lead to inaccurate conclusions that miss…

False Teachers

False teachers can pose a health hazard. Perhaps you remember some from our own time. On November 19, 1978, 913 followers of Jim Jones committed suicide at the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking…

If the Maccabees Had Lost

Each year around December, wherever there is a significant Jewish population, television screens across America flash the greeting…

Tikkun Olam

It is our duty to praise the Lord of all things, to ascribe greatness to Him who formed the world in the beginning, since He hath not made us like the nations of other lands…

Workmen’s Circle

The children of Israel provided an interesting name for the heavenly bread sent to them from the Lord. They called it manna, which means “What is it?” (Ex. 16:15). The same question is asked today…

Baruch Ha Shem

Elohim appears more than 2,500 times in the Old Testament. It is powerful, plural, and used by two divine personalities.

Play Ball!

Sports radio, a relative newcomer in the arena known as talk radio, is a result of the mutual admiration between professional athletes and the fans who watch them. The last names of the people who produce…

Blessings on Your Head

At the beginning of the movie Fiddler on the Roof, Jewish people in the little Russian village of Anatevka ask their rabbi if there is a special blessing for the czar. The czar ruled…

Akiva: Ascension to Prominence

Joseph Akiva is known by Jewish people around the world as the famous Rabbi Akiva. Though he lived from A.D. 50 to 135, he is deeply revered among Jews today for his amazing insights…

Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic?

If I had been asked, “Is the New Testament anti-Semitic?” during my university years, I would not have hesitated a moment before answering, “Yes!” My formative years were spent surrounded by people whose perception…

The ‘Final Solution’

How does a nation plan genocide? Hitler’s systematic, calculated method will alarm you, even as it confirms the truth of the depravity of man.

A Day for Remembering Yom Hashoah

Some of the most disturbing words in all of Scripture are found in the book of Esther: There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom…

Pondering the Question of Evil

Why is there so much evil in the world? That question has challenged philosophers and scholars since time began. Spend just 30 minutes watching the national news—with its usual display of wars, man’s injustice…

When You’re Dead, You’re Dead!

A number of years ago, I attended the funeral of a dear Jewish friend named Max. I had met him through mutual friends shortly after his right side had become crippled by a stroke.

So, What Exactly is That?

Meeting new people is a regular part of my job. Usually it takes just a short time before I find myself asking the inevitable question, “What do you do?” Sometimes (not often, I hope)…

Chosen? for What?

Were you ever the first one onto the baseball diamond but the last to be chosen for a team? Or worse, maybe you were never chosen at all? Maybe, though, you were the best player…

Aliyah for the People of the Book

The People of the Book.” Whom do you think of when you hear that phrase, which so clearly distinguishes a specific people? Which people and what book? The people are the Chosen People, the Israelites…

Organized for Service

In 1843 twelve Jewish men, each one an immigrant, met on the Lower East Side of New York City. Their purpose was to form an organization to help their own people in need—a type of

People for a Land

You would think that such a want ad would yield few, if any, applicants. Yet just after the turn of the twentieth century, forty thousand Jewish people made aliya (immigration to Israel)…

Lost Hope Reclaimed

Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off on our part…

The First Line of Defense

Once a year an Orthodox community in Israel assembles to honor the boys from fatherless families who are ready for bar mitzvah. The fathers of these boys all lost their lives in service to their…

From Badge to Banner

Vexillology. Most people have never heard the term; but according to World Book Encyclopedia, it is the study of the history and symbolism of flags. Its root can be traced to the Latin word for…

The Man Who Brought Hebrew Back to the Land

For its first issue of the year 2000, The Jerusalem Report, a prominent international Jewish magazine, published the results of a poll in which it asked its readers to choose the one hundred greatest Jews…

Jewish Humor

The obstetrician wanted to be sure. His patient had told him the date she expected her baby to be born. Taking into account her age, size, and weight gain…

Judaism vs Jewishness

He could have been a poster boy for a Jewish magazine. Reared in an observant home, he had celebrated bar mitzvah at age 13. He graduated from Hebrew school at the age of 18, and it was clear he had a firm grasp of Jewish history and culture as well as…

Giving and Receiving the Blessing

Do you remember the old TV program Star Trek? In that series, the expression “Live long and prosper” became a familiar utterance. It was used by First Officer Spock as a greeting and a farewell to special people visiting the starship…

The Zion Connection: Common Enemies

Possibly the most disturbing event in our nation’s recent history took place in a cozy mountain state in upper middle-class America. At a time when young people concern themselves with test scores, term papers, and final exams, students were…

Try It—You’ll Like!

For many of us, food is an emotional experience. The sights and aromas of various food items evoke wide-ranging passions, both positive and negative. It is not uncommon to observe grimaces and other contortions as people view…

Baptism or Mikveh

“Steve, I can’t do it, I just can’t do it. I know all about the plans we’ve made, but this is not going to happen. I’m Jewish; this would be too much for my family.” The voice on the other end of the phone was quivering with emotion. This was not…

Politics And Politicians

From the time of Israel’s inception as a modern state 51 years ago, the United States has been its consistent and loyal friend. In our country, many issues seem to be based on political affiliation. The treatment of Israel has not been one…

“I Was Born a Jew, and I Will Die a Jew.”

There are many religions in the world. While some seem to overlap and even share common beliefs and practices, most have distinctive characteristics that mark them out or set them apart. Many have unique, identifiable practices, including…

Who Killed Jesus?

Picture this: A Jewish family spending quality time decorating a Christmas tree. Does this sound odd to you? When I was 17, I was invited to a Christmas tree decorating party at the home of a Jewish acquaintance. Confusion would best describe my initial reaction…

The Call of the Shofar

Have you ever been driving along the highway when, seemingly out of nowhere, you hear the shrill sound of sirens? At first you are startled as the high-pitched sound seems to engulf you from almost every direction. Instinctively you try to…

What’s In a Name?

One of the wonderful things about becoming parents is the ongoing debate between husband and wife over what to name the child. What couple hasn’t purchased a book of names and then uttered the words, “Hey, what about…?”

The Tattoo Is Taboo

Our neighborhood boasted a penny candy store ingeniously located on my route to school. In addition to the tempting and inexpensive candy, one of the most popular items in the store was the individualized tattoo. The shopper had a choice of…

Wanting to Be a Somebody

Written in the flyleaf of one of my books are the words, “Great to be a somebody. I’m most grateful for everything. T. G. [Thank God].” A friend of mine wrote those words in 1960. When he wrote that note, Max was indeed a somebody. An immigrant child whose…

The Pioneering Spirit

The pioneering spirit has always captivated me. Remnants of wagon trails can still be seen in various Western states. The courage and tenacity displayed by those trailblazers are lessons for all of us. Yet, as much as I admire those brave Americans who…

Uncovering Our Roots: The Pale Of Settlement

An understanding of our family background—how our ancestors lived and how they came to the United States from their countries of origin—satisfies a curiosity in many of us. For myself and other Jewish people with Eastern European ancestry, tracing our roots can…

A Jew Lives Here

Jewish people who are serious about practicing their Judaism realize that living incognito is not an option for them. Judaism, by its very nature, teaches its people not to be ashamed of their identity.

Fermished and Ferblonjet

A guide is a person who shows the way by leading, directing, or advising. The Friends of Israel uses excellent guides when we host our tours to Israel. These individuals provide insightful information…

How to Be a Mensch

My mother gasped when she saw me walk through the door after a semester away at college. I had left home clean shaven with short hair, and now—well, let’s just say she had trouble finding…