Back in August 2003, on a Thursday night (the 14th), Ruti and I went to visit Oren. He's part owner of a pizza place in town. He's about 28 years old with dark hair which he had just cut, close to the scalp, about five-six and slender. A number of months ago, when we first walked in, Oren got very excited. He told us that I looked like Messiah (or at least how he thought Messiah should look). Naturally, we were pleasantly stunned and knew that this was a tremendous opening for our Lord Yeshua. I didn't sense however, that the time to proclaim His Name to Oren was just then. This was because of how I assessed him. He didn't know anything about the Tanach and of course, only cliches about Messiah.

In the course of time, we would go there and teach him what the Tanach spoke of about Messiah. This was all new to him. He had never heard of Messiah dying for our sins. When I finally told him of Messiah Yeshua, like seemingly unrelated pieces from a large puzzle, he wasn't able to put them into the same picture.

He spoke of the Orthodox 'going crazy' at the mention of THAT Name. I told him that I realized it and that as much as I could sympathize with them (because THAT Name has brought such incredible destruction to the Jewish people at the hands of so called Christians in Europe over the centuries who hated the Jews), the Orthodox were wrong about Yeshua being Messiah. I could see that he was reeling from the fact that, here I was, someone whom he looked up to, someone who looked and walked as a Jew, and coming out of my mouth, was something that to him, was totally against the Jews. I could see that he was struggling with it all.

The place was fairly busy which didn't allow us to have an on-going conversation. And the place is very small. Just a counter, behind which are some pizza ovens and a place where they make the pizza, and across from the counter, five very small tables with two chairs along the wall. From the counter to the wall is only about five feet. In this space are the tables with their chairs and all the people coming in to the counter to order their individual slices or pizzas to go. They also have an area outside the shop, with a number of tables there (and more room : ) Of course, it's about 110 degrees outside (in the shade!), so there weren't too many people sitting at those tables. They had an air conditioner working but it wasn't quite adequate to keep up with the heat, the pizza ovens, the people, and the fact that the door was always open. It was cooler than outside though.

Oleg was there, along with Oren's partner, Iran, and another worker who worked out of the supply room (in the back), and also helped to make pizzas. Both Oleg and Iran had heard our teaching lessons to Oren before. Oleg is a teenager, maybe 18, his parents and he having immigrated from Russia. He is fluent in both Russian and Hebrew. He's about six-one, lean build with a pleasant face and disposition. Iran is about 40, stocky, about five-six, white hair and a slight growth of a white beard. He's in the process of being divorced by his wife. He could pass for Richard Dreyfus' brother. In the times we've spoken with him he has expressed skepticism about the Bible and God.

While Oren was making pizza and taking orders over the phone, I spoke with Oleg. I told him that I'd like to give him a book about Messiah Yeshua. I asked him if he would read it. He told me he would. Then I asked him if Hebrew or Russian would be better for him. He said that either one would be fine but I sensed that Russian would be better. Asking him again, he smiled and said yes. I handed him a Russian Bible and told him that as he read the New Covenant, the Messiah of Israel would come alive to him. He smiled and thanked me.

While I had been speaking with Oren, Iran had been present and said that they were both secular Jews and they believed everything, and if Jesus was the Messiah, they'd believe that too. In the same breath he said, 'What difference does it make anyway?' I told him that belief in Messiah brings the Holy Spirit of God, as the prophet Ezekiel spoke of (36:24-27), and that he would know life, as God would dwell in him and he'd sense His Presence. For God is life. And only with Messiah Yeshua is there forgiveness of sin and a new nature like God's.

We digressed for a few moments about 'belief' and the current popular Messiah who will bring peace, and I realized it wasn't going anywhere and so I brought us back to Yeshua.

I said that Yeshua was the one that our prophets spoke of who would come and die for us, that we might be forgiven for our sins and given the Holy Spirit. I told him and Oren (again) about Ezekiel 36:22-27, where God says that He will bring us back to our Land and cleanse us with clean Water from all our filthiness and give us His Spirit. With this I said, we can really know God, who is Life. 'This is what Messiah Yeshua has done for us in dying for us.'¹

I began to share about Daniel's prophecy of Messiah (9:24-27), and said that even with no understanding of what the 'weeks' of Daniel mean, the prophet spoke of Jerusalem and the Temple being rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity. And then Prince Messiah coming, putting an end to sin, making atonement for us, and being 'cut off' (giving his life). Then, another prince would come and destroy both the city and the Temple. I said that Titus, the Roman general, destroyed the city and the Temple, forty years after Yeshua came as our Messiah. Iran was listening now and taking it in. (I think when I get to the New Jerusalem, all these Scriptures that I've shared with many people over the years, will adorn my lentil and my doorposts (Deut. 6:9; 11:20).
I had placed a Hebrew New Covenant on the counter for Oren but I hadn't offered it to him yet. After having shared Daniel with Iran, the question of Messiah dying came up and I turned to Ruti and asked her for a pamphlet we have on Isaiah 53, written in Hebrew, that explains much of what the ancient Jewish sages thought of the Suffering Servant of Is. 53. Iran looked at it for a moment and put it on the counter. So the two books were on the counter and we spoke some more about Messiah Yeshua. Then it got busy again so I sat down at a table with Ruti.

We had ordered some pizza slices and drinks. I could see that if anyone wanted to make money, the pizza business was the one to get into. Even though the economy is very slow now, after three years of Palestinian terrorism and the phoney 'cease-fire', I couldn't tell it in this place. Business was booming. And the man that delivered pizzas on his scooter seemed to never be able to catch his breath. He'd just come back from delivering one and be given two more to go. This would go on all the time we were there.

An Israeli with a kipa came in. He had long side-curls (a mark of a more 'observant' Jew). The side-curls are a perverse understanding or mystical understanding of the Commandment for wearing tzit-tziot (tassels), found in Num. 15:37-41. The side-curls are supposed to be the tzit-tziot for the head. Oye Vey! I had seen him before in the pizza place and he went to the back table (which meant that we were separated by one table). He is about 35 years old, six feet tall and has a 'hard' face and a lean body. His hardness is very common among the 'more' religious. They are beset by the fact that most of their Israeli brethren aren't observant, and by Christians whom they perceive as trying to get them to deny their God given religion and worship a man (Jesus), instead of God. And the fact that they follow Rabbis which are anti-Messiah and into Kabbalah, which is spiritual darkness. It's reflected in their teachings and on their faces.

He had his back to us and was speaking to Iran who had sat down a few minutes earlier. A woman came in who knew the observant Jew and the two of them spoke. Actually, she must have known him fairly well as she was plainly irritated with him. She gave him 'a piece of her mind' and he did the same to her. She is about five foot four inches tall with dark hair and an anxiety about her. Both she and the religious Jew were smoking, as well as Iran. There is a law here that smoking in restaurants is not allowed but Israelis don't obey the law because it's not enforced.

After a while the woman began to look at the books that were still on the counter. I had turned so that I could face the counter and see what was going on. Ruti had a full view as she was sitting opposite me. The woman took the top pamphlet on Isaiah 53 off and showed it to the man. Then she turned around and looked at the Hebrew New Covenant. She was upset. What was this doing here?! She gave it to the man and he began to rant and rave, 'This is forbidden! We have to get rid of it!'

Iran reached over the table and took both of them from him saying that he would take care of it. That ended the 'discussion'. During this time I'm realizing that an explosion could happen and Ruti and I could be caught up in an unpleasant experience. My emotions began 'to kick in.' I was 'waiting' to see what the outcome of this would be but my heart and head were afraid. Theoretically, I should be thinking of the fear of the Lord and fearing Him more than what could possibly happen to us. I'm working on it and it seems the Lord is giving me numerous chances to improve : ) With Iran doing what he did, he defused it and they went on to speak of other things.

After a while, the man and the woman left. Iran went back behind the counter and I thanked him for saving the books. He smiled at the thought and I could see he appreciated what I said. I asked, 'If I give these to you, will you read them?' He said, 'I'll read both of them but I don't know if it'll change anything.' I told him that we'll be praying that the Messiah of Israel would become real to him, as he reads the New Covenant. I told him to pray to the God of Israel and ask Him to show him if Messiah Yeshua was Messiah or not. I said that, 'God is real and he will answer your prayers. Just keep praying. He is Faithful.'

All this time I could see that Oren had purposely kept himself 'busy' so as not to have to talk to me. He likes me very much because to him, I look like what the Messiah should look like, and over the last few months, have spoken much of Messiah from the Tanach. On more than one occasion, before I told him that Messiah's Name is Yeshua, he told us of his desire to find Messiah and that if he did, he would leave everything to follow him! I told him that we knew Messiah and that one day we would share Him with him. He was very happy, then. Now, it was difficult for him to reconcile what seemed irreconcilable.

Ruti and I stayed a little longer, sitting back down, not knowing how to speak to him. Should I remind him of what he had spoken of Messiah and then go from there, or just say goodbye and leave, thinking that that was all we could do there that night? As I waited upon the Lord for direction, Ruti asked what we should do and I told her that I thought we should leave. As we did though, I called Oren to the counter. I told him that I'd like to leave a Hebrew New Covenant for him and if he would read it, he would meet Messiah. Much to my delight he said, 'Because it's you, I'll read it.' I loved him and told him that as he did, we'd pray that Messiah would become real to him. Ruti, who was standing to my left, said,

'Oren, for the last three days as I've been praying, you've come to mind and I've prayed for you. And I really felt that we were supposed to come and talk to you about Messiah Yeshua. Twenty years ago I met Yeshua and He totally changed my life. He's drawn me closer to Papa God. And closer and closer and closer and I know that I know that I know that He is our Messiah, and the Son of God.'

As she spoke, she was looking straight into Oren's eyes, across the counter. Oren smiled at this and I could see that he was now open to us and Yeshua. Thank You, Yeshua.

As the Lord leads, we'll go back and see who has read what and go from there. Thank you for your prayers for all of them, as Yeshua leads. Three Jewish men that desperately need their Messiah.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24th, 2003, we went back to the pizza place and Oren wasn't there. Iran told us that he had gone to Russia to pray at the grave site of Rabbi Nachman. He's the Hasidic rabbi who died more than 230 years ago (1760), and his sect never elevated another rabbi to take over, so he's 'still in charge' so to speak. They are called Bratzlav, for the name of the city where the rabbi lived and is buried. Thousands of Jews, at the time of Rosh HaShanah (Feast of Trumpets in September), go to his grave to pray to him, that he might intercede for them and that they might receive blessings from him for the coming year.

When I heard Iran say this, I said, 'Ah-sur!' (Forbidden!). I said that Torah strictly condemns praying to the dead (Deut. 18:9-14, Lev. 19:26, etc.). A man who also works there, whom we just met yesterday said, 'Well how come so many people do it if it's wrong?' There are many graves of 'great' Rabbis in Israel where people go to pray and get blessings from on a yearly basis. It's very pagan (and Catholic! They pray to Mary and the other dead 'saints'.) I said

'Just because many people do it, it doesn't mean it's right. If God says one thing in Torah, and the Rabbis say another, we must follow God and not the Rabbis. If not, we are living like a snake.' (And I made the motion of a snake with my right arm.) 'We must do what is right in God's eyes. Moses says,'

'Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of Yahveh your God.' (Deut. 12:28)

I asked him if he remembered the Gold Calf fiasco and how many Israelis did that? (Just about everyone in the Camp went crazy.) He said that was before Torah. I told him that it wasn't (Ex. 20, 32). I said,

'All Israel heard the Ten Commandments from Mt. Sinai, one of which was not to make a graven image of God and worship it. After that, Moses ascended the Mountain to receive the Tablets but before He came down, Israel worshipped the Calf as the God that delivered them from Egyptian slavery. The majority of the Hebrews worshipped the Gold Calf but that didn't make it right in the eyes of God.'

We spoke of some other things and before I could steer us around to Messiah, he was called to deliver a pizza. I saw this as the Hand of God and told him that next time, we'll talk more. His name of Oded. Thanks for your prayers for him and all the others. A Seed here, a Seed there. Just think, I could be selling ice to the Eskimos. I think it would be easier : )

On Sunday night, March 14th, I went into the pizza place to see if Oren had read any of the book of Luke that I had left with him on a previous occasion. As usual, he was very glad to see me. Within a few minutes though, and before I could ask him about Luke, he left and was replaced by his partner, Iran.

I ate some pizza and was about to leave when a delivery man, whose name I would later find out to be Yogev, asked me if I was Orthodox. I told him I was Messianic and that led to telling him about Messiah Yeshua. Yogev is about 21 and doesn't know his Tanach (Old Testament) well. This is a common problem with most of the Jewish people today. That is why they are so easily led astray by the Rabbis concerning Yeshua and other matters. But how can I fault them when the Rabbis say that unless you're a rabbi, the Tanach is too hard for one to understand. Strange, God never says that. He says just the opposite (Deut. 4:5-8; Ex. 13, etc.).

I gave Yogev a card with my phone number on it, and also a book of Luke and told him that if he would read it, he would see for himself who Yeshua was and what He did. Then he could decide if Yeshua was the Messiah or not.

While I was speaking with Yogev, Iran came over and spoke with him about what I believe and much to my surprise, he spoke well of it. Yogev was called away to deliver some pizza and Kobi (short for Yakov/Jacob), came back. He's about 23 and he 'took Yogev's place' so to speak and I was speaking with him about Yeshua. Again, Iran joined us and told Kobi much of what he told Yogev. I didn't have to do much talking.

I prayed to Yeshua to show me how to present Him and a spirit of deep concern for Kobi came over my soul. I desired with a great desire to point him to Messiah Yeshua. I felt as though Yeshua were making me a servant for Him, that I might be a servant to Kobi.
Kobi was more adamant than Yogev in his disbelief. His mother is very Orthodox and he is sure that Yeshua is not Messiah. I gave him my card with cites from the Tanach concerning the Messiah of Israel. I told him that if he would read them, that he'd be very shocked to see a picture of Messiah Yeshua there.

I was with them, the three of them, for over an hour, witnessing and listening to them. Just before I left, Iran said to me that he didn't know anyone who knew chapter and verse in the Tanach like I did. He asked me how I did it. I told him, 'I love our God and His Word and I read it everyday.' I know that what I said, and the way I said it, had an impact on him. As you are led, please lift Iran, Kobi and Yogi (his nickname, like Yogi Bear : ) up to our High Priest who is able to save to the utmost.

Endnotes

1. Seeing them over the months, we have shared many of the same Scriptures with them. This is important for at least two reasons. One, they don't have 'a Scripture tree' to hang the things on, so hearing it once 'goes in one ear and out the other'. This reinforces it for them. And two, much of what we share from the Tanach goes against their own ignorant understanding of 'Messiah' and so it too needs to be addressed more than once as most people refuse to reassess their understanding in light of Scripture, especially if I'm bringing a Messiah whom most Rabbis despise.