Groups that are against missionizing include the ICEJ and Bridges for Peace. Most Christian denominations technically encourage missionizing, but most individual Christians do not support it and/or feel very uncomfortable about it. I'm a Christian and would never dream of trying to convert a Jew or anyone else. I would really be offending someone if I tried to do that. I'd prefer to let a Jew tell me what he or she believes instead of trying to convince them my way is best. However, because I feel this way, a lot of Christians tell me I'm a bad Christian or even that I'm not truly a Christian. i guess we Christians are a lot like you Jews -- we come in many different stripes and we don't all think as one monolithic bloc.

There has been an awakening going on within Evangelical Christians churches in the US that started about 40 years ago. This awakening has made some serious inroads in the Evangel. Churches. What is this awakening? Just this .. A realization that G-d has commanded Christians to be a blessing to Israel in any way, shape, or form. There have been classes at various churches exploring the Jewish roots of Christianity. Much interest has been generated into what life was like in Israel from about 40BC to 100AD. (Seeing how people lived during Christ's time & the time of the church's birth.) During this summer, various Christian groups got together and went to Wash. DC to speak with their representatives. The message was: Support Israel. This canvasing of the representatives is ongoing. For all the anti-Semites out there ... there is NO Jewish conspiracy that's moving all these Christians to action. Christians are trying to obey the Bible. I can understand if someone feels they need to submit to their rabbis and avoid the march plus the influx of Christians. You MUST obey those in spiritual authority over you. For those who are not constrained by their rabbis to avoid the march or avoid Christians .. use this as an opportunity to give Christians some tangible ways to bless Israel. Take the Survivors, for example. If a group of Jews, who care for Survivors, get together and create some information to pass out to the Christians as to how they can help this would be great. Christians would be willing to help the Survivors, if they knew how. All you need to do is supply the information. (This is just one suggestion as to how you can help Christians bless Israel.) Christians *WANT* to bless Israel and her people. Many may not be sure the best way to do this. SHOW THEM!

Generally spoken people give nothing for nothing , you are right . When i give money to some Israeli organisations , i do it for nothing , i don't want anything in return . This Dutch christian organisation has founded an institution where ill children can stay with their parents , if my memory is not wrong . No christian signs as far is know to me . The Italian funds an hospital for children [ i have the name somewhere ] And don't forget the many christian organisation who saved Jews during the Shoa , for nothing in most cases , only out of humanity , not to convert them

Of course , you can talk with people , that's allowed . We can also talk to you . On my last return flight to my country , there was a group of around 20 Catholic pilgrims on the plane . While waiting , we were talking . Most of them had'nt visited Israel yet , and they were interested to know a little bit more about it . They told me that they are Catholics , i that i'm Jewish . There is no problem with talking . When i say "fearing" , it's to some religious people here . I personally don't fear any peacefull visitor .

The bible is referring to righteous gentiles by its standards, not adherents of a foreign creed. Repent and become noahides and we'll be happy to welcome you. That, or check your christianity at the door while you are with us. Until then I'm with the rabbis.

A righteous gentile is a foreigner per definition, so you can only expect him to believe in a foreign creed !. I think that with some minor adjustments, the noahide laws could become a common denominator for all monotheistic religions.

in Isaiah that talk of the person of the Messiah. Of the 5 passages you quote I agree with you, the first 4 refer to the Israel the descendants of Jacob. Isaiah 49 however, if you read the whole chapter in context is talking about the person of the Messiah, see especially verse 5 "the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him..." If you read carefully Isaiah 52: 13 to the end of 53, you will see this passage also refers to the person of Messiah, Isaiah 53:8 "... He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due..." My people here is Israel surely. Other passages that refer to Messiah in Isaiah; 7: 14 " a maiden (virgin) will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel " 9:1-7 Messiah to come out of Galilee, note especially verse 6 11:1-10 Messiah to come from David, 42:1-9 Messiah appointed as a covenant to the people, see verse 5 50:4-10 the person of the Messiah humiliated 55:3 an new covenant " an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercies shown to David " Also have a look at Zechariah 12:10-14 On whom do they look in this passage, and why do they mourn?

The facts are so many jews are ignorant of their religion and have internalized the hatred and the disgust and idealogy of non jews. Secular Israelis at present are so far from Judaism having been indocrinated against it and generally feel hatred for rabbis but display a compassion for the culture and religion that just killed six million like butchers.

...and not in a backward Muslim dictatorship so don't try to shut anybody up! The more you try to do that the closer you bring Israel to becoming a backward Middle Ages tyranny - not unlike that present in most of today's Muslim countries. So no, nobody will "shut up" and anybody may eat and drink whtever they want without asking any self-proclaimed "prophet". Go, dip yoyur nose in the Torah and re-read "love thy neighbor" and after that, try to make an honest living by working, payinng taxes and serving in teh Army. But not even THAT gives you any right to dictate anybody what to do in their own houses or businesses. Those are private matters that are between the owners of the house and God - you have no say in this! So scram and leave us folls alone! Stop dirtying our ears with religious rants and dictates.

Jesus did not follow Halacha. While there are many, many examples, I will only mention two in this short talkback. Jesus did not wash his hands before eating. Instead, he followed the non-Jewish Galilean practice and when questioned in Jerusalem, he made the stupidest statement about what comes out of one’s ass! The NT has a stupid story about Jesus giving a pronouncement on the fate of an alleged adulteress. Jesus did not follow Halachtical protocol on something that should have been decided solely by the Sanhedrin. It would be somewhat like Billy Graham unilaterally judging a murder case in the streets of Washington! Of course, this story is so idiotic to the Jews, they know it didn’t happen.

No, it wasn't, and as Immanuel was obviously the name of a specific person, this passage must be referring to someone else. But Xian "Bible" commentaries are so busy trying to make Jesus fit into these OT texts, Xians are left with no idea to whom and to what event this passage is referring. It wouldn’t matter what name was used, Xians would say it referred to Jesus!

The funny and ironic thing is, Jews have less to fear from those Christians motivated by the New Testament than those who invoke the Hebrew bible (Old Testament). Those who rattle off quotes about a impending final battle in which 2/3 of Jews will die are in fact invoking the Hebrew scriptures, in particular Zecharia, about the fate of Jerusalem (a fate which, it could be said, already occurred in 70 CE). A perousal through the New Testament indicates no such impending doom for the Jews. The prophecies there appear to take it for granted that, at some later date, the Jews will themselves en masse recognize Jesus as the messiah (Romans 11, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob" The Book of Revelations indicates an "elite" of 144,000 Israelites will become the "sealed" leaders of the Christians, while the future Jewish "non-believers", i.e. "synagogue of Satan" , will not perish but "will worship at your feet and know that I have loved you" (the Church). My point is, Jews should not fear those Christians who come to their aid, motivated by the New Testament or out of genuine good will. Their own scriptures indicate their is no need for them to attempt to convert Jews, since "God will take care of this anyway" in the future.

ER, there's no need to repeat that Jesus did not follow Halacha. You never made the statement in the first place!! READ YOUR OWN TALKBACKS!!! Please also note that I also did not make the statement that Jesus followed Halacha. Like I said, I'm Jewish, I don't believe Jesus was the Messiah and you providing me proof that Jesus isn't the Messiah has the air of telling me to ride a dead horse... Nevertheless, even though Jesus wasn't fully observant himself, he commanded his followers to be fully observant of Halacha. Paul twisted this doctrine into Jesus' death on the cross equalling an abrogation of Halacha, which is something James (and other Judaizers) resisted. It goes without saying, however, that slaughter of Jews, conversion by force and eating unclean foods are openly contrary to what Jesus preached, regardless of which source you choose to misquote. This all begs the question now... and this is the question I asked Ayman to answer (he still hasn't answered it, no surprise). Who are the real Christians? Are they those who follow Jesus, who preached submission to Torah, or those who follow Paul, who preached throwing off Torah's yoke?

the account of the early church in the New Testament. Read Acts ch. 10 & 11 and also ch. 15 and you will see that the leaders, including James & Peter, in relation to Gentile believers came to this conclusion, Acts 15:9 " ... and He (God) made no distinction between us and them (Gentile believers), cleansing their hearts by faith..." and Acts 15:19-20, James speaking "... it is my judgement that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from amoung the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaiminated by idols and from fornication and fromwhat is strangled and from blood." Suggest you read Acts 10 to get a proper perspective on this issue. Shalom

"Secular Israelis at present are so far from Judaism having been indocrinated against it and generally feel hatred for rabbis but display a compassion for the culture and religion that just killed six million like butchers. " You shoot yourself in the foot with that line of argument, since the very essence of Nazism was opposed to Christianity, espousing a specifically ethnic and biological form of racism against Jews (as well as Christians of Jewish stock). One of the goals of Nazism was the 30-point program of the "Naional Reich Church", including the extermination of Christianity from Germany, the prohibition of the Bible, and the removal of all items from altars except a copy of Mein Kampf and a sword. Hitler's concept of a supreme deity was NOT the Christian or Biblical God. You should also know that in multi-religious regions, like the Balkans and Caucasus, Hitler saw in the Muslims far more reliable allies than the Christians, on account of their readiness to submit unquestioningly to a higher authority and willingly die on the battlefield as martyrs.

Reading some talk backs here , Paul preached Christ, and what he actually said was that no man would be declared righteous due to works of Law. His writings do not do away with Law but explains that everyone of us has at one time or another broken the Law of God. So if anyone of us should try and stand before God in his 'own' right , will actually have no standing. But faith in Christ is the belief that one was sent by God to freely ransom us from the 'curse' upon those who have broken the Law. Some Jews accepted the ransom offer and from them Christianity spread to every nation of the world . The gospel of good- news, of reconcilliation and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ. many Jews refused the ransom offer and suffered the consequences of the 'curse' . Now for a second time Gods hand is reached out. And if you believe you are a perfect man who has never put a foot wrong and therefore have a righteous standing with God, then why is hatred towards others the upper motivation.?

Namely Matthew 5:19-20 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." It doesn't get more clear-cut than this, Stan. Jesus urged all who follow him to observe Halacha, spelling out the penalty for those who fail to do so and also for those who teach others not to follow Halacha. Paul's blabbing about faith abrogating Halacha is entirely contrary to what Jesus preached. You have the proof before you 2 paragraphs up from this one!

in Gaza. I haven't seen a single complain on the part of some Christian churches that love the Palestinians so much that they call for divestment and boycotts of Israel. Not a peep. There are very few reports about the treatment of Christians in Gaza. Not good for Palestinians' PR. The Jerusalem Post had one report yesterday about the subject. But everyone knows that Bethlehem Christians have had to leave their homes because they became a target of violence. Confront those churches with these truths and the question why do they continue to demonize Israel when it's not the Jews who are causing terror and violence in the world, and they are not the ones persecuting Christians.

It's too bad that facts are meaningless in the eyes of ideology...

Mr. Hedding: I read your article on Invited by the Bible. While I read, I could feel the Holy Spirit in your words. The Grace of God's Holy Spirit continue to be with you. Amen.

Joe, read the whole chapter and get the context correct, look at verse 11 and verse 21-48 where Yeshua compares the Law of Moses to His Law of which the standard is much higher. I know this thread is about Christians in Israel & Missionary activity...and as it is so typical of mankind many generalisations have been made but I can honestly say that the ICEJ is not ashamed of what they believe. They do not "shove" it down anybody's throat as some have argued and they do not "buy" anybody into converting to their faith through the assistance that they lovingly give to Israel. I must say, this talkback has been an interesting read.

http://www.bennyhinn.org/yourlife/InTheNews-Inside-Israel/Many-Gather.html "According to the prophet Zechariah in the great chapter 14 after the coming of the Messiah, after He puts His feet upon the Mount of Olives, our wonderful Lord Jesus, the Bible teaches that the nations of the world in that marvelous millennial reign will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles annually," Malcolm said. "So this is a type of rehearsal. A little foretaste of what might happen in the future."

the quote you offer is hardly proof of evil. sounds to me like a vision of nations coming together, hosted by israel, in peace love and humanity once a year, around now, which is actually what we are seeing. what's wrong with that? i am a jew, confident in who i am, and find no threat to christians reaching out to us. the opposite, i am just straight up thankful and appreciative. i am not naive either and know there exists a minority of missionaries that should still be curtailed - i do not need the rabbinate's direction on that. but by and large, just like the friendly french couple today who patted me on the shoulder in the market and told me why they are here and blessed me on my way, i say to them thank you and g-d bless! malcolm, make it 10,000 next year and thanks to ICEJ for all your great work and support!!

I would want to see them move to Israel,living here and building the state. They are not a fifth column,they won't fly Palestinian flags,or spray swastikas on graves and synagogues. They are not leftist self-hating Jews. Imagine if we got a few million of them living here,it would boost the demographics in our favor.And Jerusalem would be built by true Zionists.I'm a proud Zionist Jew and will stay that way no matter what. Va nomar Amen.