Update and Follow-up...

25 Iyyar 5785
40 Days of the Omer
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Behar - Bechukotai/ Mevorchim

[Traditional Shabbat post can be seen HERE.]

Like One For Israel, Chosen People Ministries is a missionary organization in Israel dedicated to converting Jews to Chr*stianity.  It appears that they "caught" Sarah Milgram in their net, a Reform Jewess who was raised in the Kansas Reform milieu.  Baptism is normally done at the time of conversion - the first step after a declaration of faith.

FORWARD: ‘He was a mensch’: Slain Messianic Jew remembered as bridge-builder

When David Boskey first met Yaron Lischinsky at a small Hebrew-speaking congregation in downtown Jerusalem, he saw someone who was “soft-spoken, but not timid. Always smiling. Always volunteering.” They were like brothers, Boskey said — one older, one younger — drawn together by faith, questions of identity, and a shared commitment to Israel.

Now Boskey, 39, is mourning the loss of that friend. Lischinsky, 30, was one of two Israeli Embassy staffers killed Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., in what authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime. The gunman opened fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where Lischinsky and his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, had just attended an American Jewish Committee event.

...“It’s beyond tragic,” said Boskey, 39, who now lives in Kentucky, where he is studying at Asbury Theological Seminary and getting a Ph.D. in biblical studies. “He was a mensch.”

...Lischinsky, born in Germany to a Jewish father and Christian mother, moved to Israel at 16 and found a spiritual home in Melech Ha’Mlachim — “King of Kings” in English — a Messianic congregation near Jerusalem’s bustling Mahane Yehuda market. There, he translated sermons for English-speaking visitors and regularly stayed after services to talk about his future with Boskey, who led the youth group.

...Messianic Judaism is a religious movement made up of people who identify ethnically and culturally as Jewish and believe that Jesus — whom they call Yeshua — is the promised Messiah. [And God in the flesh!!]

...Still, Lischinsky’s religious identity has stirred confusion in the wake of his death. Ronen Shoval, dean of the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem, where Lischinsky participated in a yearlong program, described him to The New York Times as “a devout Christian” who “tied his fate to the people of Israel.” Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, also referred to him as Christian in a tribute posted to social media.

But Boskey pushed back on that framing. He said that Lischinsky, like others in their congregation, saw himself as a Jew who believed Jesus was the Messiah — and that this belief did not negate his Jewish identity.

Professionally, Lischinsky worked at the Israeli Embassy in D.C. as a research assistant, where he was passionate about the Abraham Accords and interfaith dialogue. He held a master’s degree in diplomacy. He served in the Israel Defense Forces (mandatory under Israeli law). His LinkedIn bio called him “an ardent believer” in peace-building.

...[Sarah] Milgrim, 26, who also worked at the embassy, shared that passion. Raised in the Kansas City suburbs — where her family belongs to Congregation B’nai Jehudah, a Reform synagogue... joined the board of the University of Kansas Hillel and traveled to Israel on Birthright.

In Washington, she became known as a skilled event planner who helped the Israeli Embassy partner with marginalized communities. Josh Maxey, executive director of Bet Mishpachah, a local LGBTQ+ synagogue, recalled working with her on several events.

According to an Israel HaYom article...

Before joining the embassy, she went for a long visit to Israel as a master's student and immersed herself in Israel's Neve Shalom Tech2Peace program to study how friendships between Israelis and Palestinians can pave the way for peace.

Ironically, the AJC program was "focused on how to promote humanitarian aid despite the ongoing conflict,"  i.e., to Gaza!!

There is no such thing as "Messianic Judaism."  It would be more accurate to call it Judeo-Chr*stianity.  There is only one authentic Judaism and that is Torah Judaism.   

This is the horrific situation now of Diaspora Jewry and it has flooded into Eretz HaKodesh via olim with an agenda - a Chr*stian agenda!

* * * 

Hegseth Starts Evangelical Prayer Services at Pentagon with His Tennessee Church Pastor

A program for the event called it the "Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer and Worship Service." It was held at the Pentagon's auditorium and was broadcast throughout the building on its internal cable network.

While Hegseth made an opening prayer, the majority of the service was run by the defense secretary's personal pastor from a Tennessee church whose leaders have a documented history of advocating for male-led Christian authority over society.

Standing behind a podium bearing the logo of the Defense Department, Hegseth declared that "this is precisely where I need to be, exactly where we need to be as a nation, at this moment in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," according to an audio recording of the event obtained by Military.com.

A video of the service was also posted online by the Defense Department.

Hegseth proceeded to add that the prayer service was voluntary but encouraged those in attendance to "let those you work with know about it."

Meanwhile, the pastor, Brooks Potteiger, prayed for the Pentagon to "become a place where Christians come together to do just this, and we see you move in power, not just through the Pentagon, but through our nation's capital and down throughout this great nation."

Diaspora Jews believe that Chr*stians are their allies against a common enemy - Islam - but one thing never changes:  "Eisav soneh et Ya'aqov."  The most radical of them - like Hegseth here - pose the most dangerous threat to the future of American Jews.  WAKE UP!!!

I thought it was interesting that the Forward article quotes a Chr*stian from Kentucky, while this one on Hegseth refers to his pastor from Tennessee.  Both of these states were pummeled last week by tornadoes with 28 fatalities recorded and an estimated $5 billion in damage.

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~