Since October 7th, there has been no rest for the Jews. We were not given one day to mourn the biggest slaughter of Jewish bodies since the Holocaust before people began to justify it.
People who knew nothing about the Middle East were suddenly full-on anti-Israel activists. Before the dead could be collected and Mourner's Kaddish said, we had to go on the defense.
There was no time to sit shiva before we had to defend our very right to exist in the world.
A small indigenous nation attacked: girls, boys, men, and women killed in the most brutal of ways and hundreds- even babies- taken hostage and our nation, and people were treated us as enemies of the world.
Israel has always been surrounded by enemies who have been open about wanting it wiped off of the map forever, but for the first time in a long day, the everyday person, thousands of miles away, joined in.
Monday, May 6th- the 27th of Nissan- is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yom HaShoah VeHagvura. The day of Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance.
Not only do we remember the over six million who were killed, but the ones who fought in the heroic Warsaw Uprising in Poland.
What does it mean this year for Jewish people?
We said "Never Again" but everyone knows someone who knows someone who was hurt, killed, or taken on October 7th.
On one side of the world, our people are in physical war: sending off soldiers of men and praying they return.
On the other side, I have seen the fatigue in my friend's eyes as they continue to post online, trying to spread the truth about the Jewish people, encourage friends, and combat the lies.
I have read messages from people struggling over friends who have turned against them, become full on antisemites over the past few months. We watch them chant against Zionists, those who believe in the only Jewish homeland and attack them on college campuses.
This May 6th, this Yom HaShoa, as I light a Yahrzeit candle for the fallen of days past, pray for the hostages, and pray for Israel and Jewish people around the world, I think of Yeshua as He was told Lazarus was dead.
"Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.'
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled." Yochanan (John) 11: 32-33
As a leader, I want to lift people up. I want to dry their eyes and remind them of the eternal hope.
Yeshua said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life!"
"Weeping lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning," I tell people from Tehilim (Psalm) 30:5.
Yeshua did not leave Lazarus in that tomb. He displayed His power over death by giving Him new life. But in that moment, I'm reminded that He wept.
In his letter to the congregation in Rome, the the apostle Sha'ul (Paul) wrote: "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." (Romans 12:15)
Part of being in a community means you are sensitive to what is happening. When people are happy, when children have their b'nei mitzvot, babies are being born, or people getting married, we rejoice.
But when tragedy strikes, we mourn together so that those who weep do not do so alone. It does not mean we lack faith or forgotten where our hope lies, it means we are human.
We care about each other.
In Sha'ul's letter to the congregation in Galatia, he told them to "bear each other's burdens."
"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians
What is the law of Christ?
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (Yochanan 13:34-35)
Jewish people know this. It's why we sit shiva. It's why we hold each other up during hard times.
It has been a hard time.
Yeshua wept. Before He performed the miracle that would turn mourning into singing, the Messiah wept.
My message to my Jewish brothers and sisters is that you're never alone. There are many people around the world who see what is happening and know you're not the enemy.
There are Christians around the world who are praying for Israel and her people.
The thing about being Jewish is that there isn't much time to mourn before it's time to get up and fight again. But take heart knowing that no matter what the world thinks, there is a God who sees and is with us.
This May 6th, we mourn, we remember, and we know we are not alone.
Psalm 121 says the God who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. And no matter what, the Lion of Judah, Yeshua, lives.
Thank You, Messiah Yeshua for being an example of love and community. You are Divine and yet You chose to live amongst us as a Man and show us how to love each other. You were seated in heavenly places and chose to let Your feet get dusty in the earth.
Thank You for everything you did even before the cross, to show us how to be with each other. Help us to love each other more every single day. Let Your love flow through us and onto all who need it. Let us be a reflection of Your love.
Your people are suffering and need You. Help those of us who know You to beacons of the hope truth that the Messiah lives and still holds Israel in the palm of His hand. You promised to never leave us or forsake us and we believe You.
Help those mourning all over the world to know they are not alone and in you there is life forever.
In Your name we pray, Amen
Comments