Page 5 Twice Rescued (How Ernest Winter Made it Out) Page 8 Making Your Seder Fun and Kid-Friendly… Page 12 Seder Listings! Page 17 Iran Alive Ministries Page 20 Ebenezer Home in Israel (Pt 1) One Man’s Response… NetFlix Series! Iran Alive! (“Isa” Yeshua in Farsi) An actual bas-relief from Iran where the Site of Suza / Shushan Sits (© Wikimedia) Vol. 30 Number 2 • March / April 2020 • Adar / Nisan / Iyyar 5780-81 • messianictimes.com • Canada/US $5 RPURIM—evival: aJoy M iniR theacle Midst inof UncertaintyRogRess P llsbrook By Cliff Keller by AAron A By Cliff Keller Was Qasem Soleimani’s early two millennia separate astor Lee marveled during the Seder at the recent death a “moment Nthe first Messianic Jews— collective memory of the Jewish people, the followersof liberation?” of Yeshua—from their Pcontinuity of historical identity of the Jewish latter-day peers. people, the “we were slaves in Egypt,” “our Purim is many things to many “They say miracles are past,” fathers,” and “the L-rd took us out with an people and, like most Jewish declared Lafeu, an old L-rd of Ber- outstretched arm.” He appreciated what the Jewish holidays, replete with paradox. tram’s court in Shakespeare’s All’s It is the “classic account of our people had to endure as a family. The celebration of Wellpeople’s that Endsconfrontation Well, but, thoughwith brute it Passover is one of the original festivals that depicts mayanti-Semitism,” not yet be obvious wrote to the some, late the the identity of the nation of Israel. Virtually every Jewish restorationDr. Rabbi David of modern Hartman, Israel proves person around the world celebrates it—religious, thefounder notion of wrong. Jerusalem’s During Shaloma May observant, not-so-observant, and atheists. Today, there are a presentationHartman Institute at Beit inZera, his Israel, paper, a growing number of Christians such as Pastor Lee who desire to storiedJoy in the kibbutz Midst in ofthe Uncertainty. southern Gali - celebrate the Passover as well. They do so, not out of religious or “…[We] were threatened with lee, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, Associate cultural obligation, but because they see it as a Biblical and spiritual experience. extinction…Haman’s genocidal Director of the Jerusalem-based Pastor John Lee and the congregation which he serves, the International Calvary Church in Springfield, Centerscheme for was Jewish- not realized… [It is] a moment of liberation from Virginia, a predominantly Korean community, rent their church building to Ohev Yisrael Messianic Jewish Christian Understanding & Coopera- the designs of the ‘Hamans’ Congregation on Shabbat. The connection between the two congregations is greater than that of a landlord tion, paraphrased Mishnaic teacher, of history.” and tenant. A real relationship exists between the two, one of respect and honor, as well as learning about Rabbi Eleazar I, regarding miracles. each other’s cultures. Pastor Lee’s sentiment towards the Jewish people translates into loving and “OneThe oflast history’s person to most recognize recent a appreciating his own Korean culture and people. His church ministers primarily to Koreans, yet they reach out miracleHaman ishopefuls the person was to Qasemwhom it’s to other nations such as India and Nepal. Pastor Lee has experienced G-d’s heart towards the Jewish people happening…Soleimani, theWe getinfamous fooled, Majorin the and desires to bring that same love and compassion to other people groups. courseGeneral of inevents,” Iran’s IslamicWolicki toldRevolu- his Why would anyone want to sit down for dinner, wait for over an hour or so before actually eating, snack audience,tionary Guard “into whosethinking evil that influ- every- thingence isextended kind of natural.” well-beyond the on crackers for bread, horseradish for dip, and Manischewitz for wine? Because they love the G-d of Israel Middle East. For example, in an Consider the Prophet Moses’ and the Jewish people and want to experience this unique and Biblical festival. Because of the bond that editorial piece in the Wall Street miraculous promise; The L-rd your occurred between the two congregations since Ohev Yisrael began services in their building a couple of Journal entitled Soleimani’s Latin years ago, it seemed only natural for Ohev Yisrael to invite International Calvary Church to participate in G-dAmerica will bring Terror, you Mary into theAnastasia land their Passover Seder celebration. When asked why Pastor Lee accepted this invitation, he explained, whichO’Grady your wrote, fathers “A possessed, hero of hemi- and youspheric shall criminality possess it; andhas Hebeen will lost, “I wanted to know more about the Jewish roots of my faith. I recognized that there was a connection prosperand the you gangsters and multiply are sad. you Theymore between the Old Testament and the New Testament. By participating, I would increase this connection.” thanmay youralso fathersbe worried.. (Deut. It 30:5)has been Pastor Lee is cognizant of the reality that many Christians are still unaware that they are recipients of a mistakeAs much to as let we Iran’s look incursions at the part - what the Jewish people received first. He quotes Romans 3:1-2, “What advantage then is there of being a inginto of the the region sea and during manna the falling last Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with frtwoom decadesheaven as go spectacular unanswered. the very words of G-d,” Biblically confirming that the Jewish people are the ones who first received the CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 PALM DESERT, CA DESERT, PALM PERMIT #149 PERMIT PAID US POSTAGE US NON-PROFIT ORG. NON-PROFIT CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE oracles of G-d. What he has inherited as a Christian came from the Jewish people. Pastor Lee, expounds, “This insight has spurred me on to know G-d’s heart towards the Jewish people. It is paramount to me to understand this truth.” Such respect and love for the Jewish people propelled Pastor Lee to want to participate in Ohev Yisrael’s Seder and also impelled many of his congregants who expressed their enthusiasm of their participation in the Seder as well. A number people who attended the first Seder returned again for their second one and the yearly Biblical festival has become an anticipated event in the life cycle of their church. The congregation speaks unashamedly of its love for Israel and participating in the Seder fuels their passion. Another Pastor, Brian Burdett from Lake Ridge Baptist Church in Woodbridge, Virginia also had a desire to experience a Seder at his church and reached out as well to Ohev Yisrael in the hopes that they could also present a Seder to his community. Pastor Burdett expressed his desire, “I wanted something different from the normal way of celebrating Easter. I desired something that would bring the congregation into a more meaningful Easter, to enable them to experience a deeper appreciation of what took place on the cross. He asserted, “While most churches teach only from the New Testament, I wanted the congregation to understand G-d’s whole redemptive work, from the Old Testament, from the Aaron Allsbrook narrates and introduces the Passover traditions to attentive, beginning of history, not just the New Testament. Knowing that Yeshua is referred to first-time as the Passover Lamb, I wanted to experience everything that Passover is.” experiencers Through experiencing the Seder the congregational increased their appreciation of a Seder. and understanding of Passion Week. Similar to Pastor Lee, Pastor Burdett valued the power of gathering together as a community to celebrate the way the Jewish people have been observing Passover for thousands of years. He recognized that participating in a Seder is a profound way of fostering connections with one’s larger community outside the church walls as well and is also a way to build relationships with others. For many congregants, this was their first Seder experience and the congregants expressed how they saw Yeshua as the fulfillment of the Passover lamb. Experiencing a Seder not only enriches the lives of followers of Yeshua it is also a means of outreach into the Jewish community in which some of the congregants invited their Jewish neighbors. Curiously, one country where such collaborative Seders do not often occur is in Israel. Most followers of Yeshua in the land are Jewish, and therefore they either celebrate the Passover festival with family or a local congregation. Nearly every Jewish person in Israel commemorates the holiday, from the least religious to the most observant, as stated earlier. Conversely, there are regularly a multitude of Christians in Jerusalem around the time of Passover who are passionate about visiting the Holy Land during the time of Yeshua’s death and resurrection. One congregation, King of Kings in Jerusalem, desired to host these passionate tourists for a Seder dinner so they as well could experience what Yeshua experienced with His disciples the night before He laid down His life. Similar to Lake Ridge Baptist Church, King of Kings was able to invite not only Christian tourists, but those people who live in Israel for an extended period of time, as well as Jewish people who do not have family living in Israel. King of Kings Congregation was able to serve a variety of people through opening their doors to their Passover celebration. The congregation had not presented a Passover Seder to the community for several years but they were certainly glad they did so that year. There is perhaps no greater event in which Christians can participate in the Jewish festivals than the Passover Seder. The Seder is not only foundational to the Jewish people as a nation, it is also foundational to the ushering in of the New Covenant through Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection at this season.